Heart of the Wolf
by KaibaKitty
Summary: On the gore-spattered streets of Kyoto, she and the wolf first set eyes on each other. The wolf prowls on, forever seeking the Aku Soku Zan which is his creed, though with her, he may have found his reason to live... Saito X Tokio
1. First Sight

_A/N:_ This was originally a one-shot, but someone asked me for a sequel a long time ago so I decided to turn it into a series. XD Way to go, me! Lol. Anyway, for those who care, a few things first:

As you may or may not know, Saito and Tokio are real historical people. In order to do this story justice, I felt like a little research was in order. I wrote the first, raw draft without doing any research whatsoever. (I almost had a heart attack when I saw all the stuff that was accurate without realizing it... but there was also a good deal of crap I totally made up)

Thus, after a rather ridiculous amount of research, here we are. And even after numbing my brain with an overload of names, dates, and Japanese history, I still didn't totally stick to the facts. If you're a total Japanese history buff and the places where the plot and history don't fit piss you off, I know, and I apologize. But what was more important to me than getting every fact correct was writing a decent story that hopefully fans will enjoy.

_WARNINGS:_ Violence. Lots of blood. Some coarse language. Inexplicit sexual content/dialogue.

_Disclaimer:_ _Rurouni Kenshin_ © Nobuhiro Watsuki. _Heart of the Wolf_ © KaibaKitty.

Night was falling fast. The streets of Kyoto were illuminated by the bloody sky; the sun was slowly sinking, elongating the shadows of buildings and the shady figures who still prowled the streets. Not many dared to wander at this late hour.

Of the few still outside was a young girl of about sixteen with wild mane of nut brown hair caught loosely in a ribbon. Her dark eyes scanned the blackening alleyways for a sign of movement.

"Tami-chan?" she called, "Where are you?"

The girl was frantic as she looked for any signs of movement. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps could be heard. The girl stopped when she heard the noise. She was dead if she was found by the wrong sort of people right now. What if it was an assassin, a hitokiri heading her way? What if it was the sort that didn't care about killing women and children?

No, she shouldn't think such things. Taking a deep breath, she turned to face whomever was approaching. When she saw the small, familiar figure, she sighed in relief.

A younger girl with bobbed hair came closer to the older one, smiling. "Nee-san!"

"Tami, you know better than to be out this late! You were supposed to be home half an hour ago!" she scolded.

Tami smiled, "I was just playing. Sorry!"

The girl shook her head in disbelief. Tami was so naïve. She was too young to completely understand the concept of war, but even as a child she should know that the dark streets were dangerous to a vulnerable little girl.

"You'd better not be late again. Let's go home."

Tami took her sister's hand as they headed back to their house. By then, the moon and stars were their only light. Often, the girl had nightmares about the violence that took place on the streets of Kyoto. She dreamed she could see warriors dying on each other's blades and innocent civilians caught in the crossfire of the heated battles. She woke up in cold sweats from these nightmares and couldn't sleep afterwards. They are only nightmares, she tried to reason with herself, they aren't real.

Something shook the girl from her thoughtful reverie. She and Tami were approaching an alleyway. At first, she'd thought the sound of cursing and blades clashing and was all a part of the terrible dream she was remembering. But then a man staggered out of the dark alley, and another man wielding a sword attacked him. Blood spurted from the first man's back and with a groan of agony, he fell to the ground.

The girl froze. Tami shrieked. Time seemed to stand still. She'd just seen a man die. She'd just witnessed murder. Horrified, she yanked Tami's arm hard and hissed, "_Run!_"

The little girl was bawling as she ran. Her sister urged her onward, making her run faster, willing her not to cry -- but to no avail. Sobbing, Tami tripped and skidded on the ground. Cursing inwardly, the girl stopped as well and crouched next to Tami. "Get on my back, hurry."

But there was no time. They had just arrived at the scene of a skirmish. There were six men standing. Four were in normal clothes, but two were garbed in blue and white mountain striped haori. Undoubtedly, the uniformed men were the dreaded police force from Mibu. And though she couldn't be certain, she would guess that the remaining four were the Ishin Shishi Patriots.

Distracted as she was by the six men fighting, she didn't notice the three other men sneaking up behind her until they were barely a foot away.

"What do you think you're doing out at this hour, girl?"

Startled, she turned and found herself staring into the faces of three surly men, all of whom were armed. Tami wasn't crying out loud now, but she was trembling violently. The men crept closer.

One of them snickered, "C'mere, sweetie, we won't hurt you..."

Another grinned as he reached for her. "Not much, anyway."

She started to scramble away, but the man had firmly grasped the front of her kimono. There was no way she was getting out of this easily. Acting on instinct, she kneed him in the groin when he'd pulled her close enough. Groaning, he released her and she fell to the ground. Tami went unnoticed by them. The girl turned to her little sister and demanded, "Go, Tami! _NOW!_"

The little girl didn't need telling twice. She high-tailed it down the road just in time. The man she'd kneed grumbled, "You little _bitch!_"

She tried to stand, but one of the men had drawn a dagger while the other cracked his knuckles. All three were closing in on her again. She willed her body to move, to get off the ground and run for her life, but she couldn't. Her entire body was frozen stiff. They were going to rape her and kill her and leave her mangled body in the streets with the other corpses. Her only source of solace was that Tami, at least, would not suffer the same fate.

There was a silver flash, a crimson spray, and a pale blue streak. For one dazzling second, these colors were all she could see. When the man closest to her fell to the ground with a slit throat, she realized what was happening.

Someone killed her attacker. Someone saved her.

Looking up for the source of the blue, her eyes quickly fell upon it. It was the haori of one of the Shinsengumi. She stared as the other two men, too stunned by the sudden death of their friend to react, were killed in a matter of seconds as well. As the last of the three fell, the Shinsengumi officer muttered, "_Aku Soku Zan._"

Evil unto evil.

She tried to swallow but her throat was too dry. Slowly, her eyes traveled up to look at her savior. Splatters of crimson covered his face, his jacket, his kimono... He had high, sharp cheekbones and black hair in a high pony tail. His long black bangs fell over his eyes. Those orbs burned like liquid gold with hunger. He reminded her of a wolf. He fed upon his prey without mercy nor remorse. To him, these men were mere rabbits. What would stop the lone, hungry wolf from now turning upon the petrified field mouse?

He opened his mouth to speak; she half-expected a howl, or at least fangs. He asked, "Are you hurt?"

The question surprised her. She honestly wasn't sure at first. _Did_ they hurt her? She looked down at herself. She felt sickened as she saw that her kimono was also stained with blood. She wasn't sure who it belonged to, either. Was it hers, or was it from one of the men? Or was it from _all_ of the men? But she couldn't see or feel any injuries, so she shook her head.

Her savior nodded curtly and started to walk away. Confused, she struggled to find her voice and asked, "Why did you save me?"

From what she could see of his face, he was scowling slightly. He paused to wipe his bloody weapon with a cloth before he replied. "It's my job to purge the world of evil. The more men like _that_ there are, the more corrupt and rotten it becomes. Besides, no decent man should turn his back when a defenseless girl is about to be taken advantage of."

Pulling herself to her feet, she felt her face flush. Defenseless. It was true, but she so badly wished it wasn't. She bit her lip, wondering what to do. She wanted to thank him, but how could she put her gratitude in words? And then, she thought of Tami. Had she made it home unscathed? She was torn between trying to find the right thing to say to the man, and running off to find her sister.

Before she could make a decision, however, a voice cut through her thoughts.

"Hey, there's still one of those bastards left!"

"Another one of the Shinsengumi?" called another man.

"He's alone -- get him!"

Startled, she swung her head around. Five more men appeared drawing their swords. She looked back to the scene of the earlier fight and saw that all four Ishin Shishi, as well as the other member of the Shinsengumi, lay dead. Her savior was the only one left. Despite being alone and faced five to one, he smirked. He stepped slightly to the side so he was directly in front of her.

"Well, well. A few more dogs who don't know their place. Run along home if you know what's good for you, girl."

This statement floored her. Was he serious? Did he really intend to stand and fight them all? "Hey, you!" she snapped, "You don't seriously mean to take them all on yourself, do you?"

"Unless you'd rather kill them for me," he said sarcastically.

"But you're outnumbered!"

Rather than respond, he plunged himself into battle with the first man. He fell easily. Then came the second two. As her savior fluidly exchanged blows, he never once lost his smirk. A second body fell. One of the men watching scowled. He inched past the dueling samurai and silently extracted a pistol from his sleeve.

The girl's mind flooded with one solid fact: _he was going to die_. The gunman was going to shoot him, and he was going to die. She could obey him and run away now and save herself in case they turned on her... or she could help him.

It was incredibly reckless and without a doubt the stupidest thing she'd ever done in her life, but without giving it more than a moment of thought, she shouted, "Look out!" She ran with arms outstretched. She grabbed the gunman's arm and threw her full weight against him. He was so surprised to have been attacked – by the girl, nonetheless – that his grip slackened and the pistol went flying into the darkness. The two fell in a heap.

Meanwhile, her savior's smirk had been wiped clean off of his face as he saw what she had just done. He was still fighting with the third man, and had no way of stopping the gunman as he hauled himself to his feet, grabbed the girl, and threw her against the wall of a house. The blow forced the air from her lungs. She couldn't breathe, let alone move. Wrapping her arms around her stomach, she willed the pain and stars swimming in front of her eyes away.

"You'll pay for that, wench," the gunman grunted. He had drawn his sword and closed the distance between them.

She thought there would be time for her life to flash before her eyes, time to think, but there wasn't. No, everything was fast. Much too fast. The sword raised, bathed in moonlight. Then, the silver blur swung down to end her life. She didn't have a chance to scream. She didn't even have time to close her eyes...

But something happened. The blade had not pierced her flesh. Instead, her vision was obscured by pale blue and her ears were ringing in response to a deafening metallic crash.

Confused by the turn of events, she looked up. She was staring at the back of the Shinsengumi officer, who was not even an inch in front of her. "You _moron!_" he snapped. She knew he was talking to her even though he wasn't looking at her.

From what she could see, he was defending her, his sword raised and blocking the gunman's. He shoved backwards so he could give the girl enough room to be safe. But he didn't get that far. The last man, who had gone entirely unnoticed in the confusion, made his move. He stabbed forward. Her savior had no choice. He was blocking the gunman with one sword and didn't have time to grab his second one. There was no way he could move without letting the girl get stabbed. He twisted in place while still shielding the girl with his body, but it wasn't enough for himself.

The last man stabbed her savior. The bloody sword tip touched the girl's kimono. The image did not make sense... until she realized that the sword had not stabbed him as much as it had skewered him. Her mouth fell open in a silent scream. The sword was pulled out, but the fresh scarlet splotches soaked through her savior's clothes. He grunted, gagged, and coughed. The girl felt sick when he spat a mouthful of blood on the ground.

The last attacker laughed, "Impressive dodge. But you won't be so lucky this time!"

The girl did not doubt this. There was no way he'd live this time. With a wound like that so close to his liver, there was no way he was going to be able to dodge this time, even if he did choose to protect himself rather than her.

She did not expect to hear him snarl, "That's what you think."

With one hand, he grabbed the gunman's blade and jerked it out of his hands. Before the gunman could react, her savior plunged his sword into the man's skull, right between his eyes. The shower of crimson distracted the last man, who was killed in the same fashion.

Both of them fell, and for a wild moment, the girl wanted to congratulate him on winning, and also to finally thank him for saving her not once, but twice, even taking a severe hit for her. But there was no time for that. He struggled to sheath his sword. When he did, he tried to stand up straight, but couldn't. Groaning, he fell backwards into her arms. Her jelly-like legs could barely support herself. Their combined weight made her fall to her knees.

Cradling his head on her lap, she looked down at him sadly. His breathing was shallow and ragged. The wound he'd received, even if it did not hit a vital organ, had completely pierced his body and was bleeding profusely. She reached down and touched the entry point of the wound with a tender hand. The hot, thick, sticky liquid seeped through her sleeve, under her palm, through her fingers... If it went on like this for any longer, he was going to die.

"Get yourself the hell away from here," he rasped, "before more of them come..."

Even now, even in the end, he was thinking of her. He was not asking her to save him. He was not even asking her to move him somewhere he could die comfortably. He was just telling her to go and keep herself safe. Even if there were no men around who wished to take advantage of her, no Patriot would spare her if she was found with one of the Shinsengumi in her arms. But as she watched him losing consciousness, as his blood spilled from his wound, she knew she couldn't just leave him there to die.

Her decision bolstered her strength. She grabbed him by the arms and hauled him to his feet. He staggered and swayed, unable to stand unsupported. She quickly wrapped one of his arms around her narrow shoulders. Only when he slumped against her did she notice how much larger and heavier he was compared to her. Nevertheless, she gritted her teeth and endured his weight.

"What do you think you're doing...?" he muttered.

Refusing to answer him, she steeled herself and pulled him along. He slipped out of consciousness. It took strength she never knew she had to drag the dying man with her. She didn't know how long it took to reach her destination. She would never quite know how she had mustered up the courage and strength to keep him away from the edge. What she did know was that there was not a single force on earth that would stop her from saving this nameless stranger's life.

---

The morning was peaceful. Birds sang merrily in the clear blue sky. Sunlight streamed through the windows of a small house, bathing it in soft light. People bustled through the streets to shop and chatter. To an outsider, there was nothing to suggest that men battled to the death there.

Light fell across a room of the small house. It illuminated the face of an amber-eyed man. He squinted against the light and turned his head to the side so he was not looking directly into the sun. As he did, he noticed how groggy and numb he felt. Had he been drugged? What was going on? He felt too heavy and weak to sit up, but he quickly observed his surroundings. It looked like there were vials of medicine, needles, bandages, numerous medical instruments... Was he in a hospital? No, he couldn't have been; what sort of a hospital in central Kyoto would house a wolf of Mibu?

Suddenly he became very aware of the fact that he was not alone in the room. Just on the edge of his peripheral vision was the other person. He looked up and saw a young woman. Her brown hair was in an untidy knot and the sleeves of her kimono were pulled up to her elbows. She had his haori on her lap. She was sitting, but leaning against the wall and fast asleep.

The longer he stared, the more he remembered about that night. She'd been unfortunate enough to stumble across his battles with the Ishin Shishi and a few thugs. He wondered vaguely how such a young girl could sleep so soundly after witnessing numerous deaths.

Then, he sighed. He nearly died, hadn't he? Yes, he'd been stupid enough to disregard that one man who ended up stabbing him. And of course, the idiot girl didn't run when he said so. He couldn't let a civilian take the hit instead, so he had no choice but to take it himself. Although, he thought bitterly, it would have taught her a lesson about _listening_ to people if she'd been stabbed herself. But it just wasn't in him to save his own life and let the girl be hit. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he did such a thing. He would have become a hypocrite.

Stirring at last, the girl's eyes fluttered open. She rubbed her eyes and looked around, her gaze falling on the man before her. A faint smile touched her lips when she saw that he was awake.

"Well, look who's finally decided to come back from the brink," she mused.

With a stifled yawn, she continued what she'd been doing before she nodded off: sewing the man's clean kimono and haori. She felt his gaze on her still and he asked, "Where am I?"

"My house," she replied without looking up from her work, "There wasn't time to bring you to a doctor. My aunt taught me a few things about medicine, so I managed to cauterize that injury myself."

He sighed and turned his head away from her. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, then closed his eyes. "So I survived."

This time, she shot him a glare. "Don't sound so depressed about being alive. You almost didn't make it. You lost so much blood I thought you really were going to die."

The man did not reply, but shifted his gaze from the ceiling back to the girl. She either did not notice his gaze, or did not care that he was staring at her. Either way, he didn't care. There was another question he had for her.

"How long have I been unconscious?"

She paused. "Three days."

Three whole days? _Wonderful_. He didn't have time to be sitting around here; he had to report back. Everyone was bound to think he was dead by now. But he was too weak to even sit, let alone leave. He was frustrated, but there was nothing he could do.

The door opened and a small figure appeared. The short-haired girl smiled at the older girl, bearing a tray of food. "Morning, nee-san. Is he -- EEK!"

The tray clattered to the floor and the small girl dove behind her sister. She said in a carrying whisper, "He's even scarier when he's awake!"

Unable to resist, she laughed. "Tami, show some respect. He's the only reason why I'm alive right now. _And_ he's our guest."

As the girl named Tami scampered from the room, the older girl rolled her eyes and smiled apologetically at the man. "I must apologize for her. She's--"

"It's fine," he muttered nonchalantly, "I get that a lot."

She smiled a bit wider before returning to her sewing. A thought tugged at the back of her mind and began to nag her. She glanced down at the man, who was still watching her avidly, and ventured with a touch of sarcasm, "May I ask what the name of my valiant savior is?"

Mustering up his strength, he sat half-way up. He supported his weight with his arms, since the rest of his body was too numb to do so. "That's need-to-know information."

She frowned, but returned to her work without complaint. "Then I suppose I'll just call you 'wolf-guy' or something when I need to get your attention." He smirked a little and continued as if she hadn't spoken. "But... you are the reason I am still alive, so I suppose I can make an exception."

Surprised by this change, she stopped again and looked over at him. Normally she would have scolded him and forced him to lay down again, but he spoke before she got the chance.

"Saito Hajime, captain of the third squad of the Shinsengumi."

She fully intended to reply with her own name, but the words died in her throat. Her eyes widened in horror. When what he said had really sank in, she couldn't bring herself to so much as look at him. Her hands trembled in her lap.

Saito looked over at her and frowned slightly. "Come on, even if you support the Imperialists you should know by that uniform that I'm--"

"My father... was Takagi Kojuro."

Recognition lit up Saito's face at once. She thought it probably would. Her father, Kojuro, was a member of the Shinsengumi's third squad. Less than a year previously, he died in battle. His loss crushed the Takagi family. She didn't know what to do with herself when the news of his death came; she was a wreck. How could he have died? How could he just leave his children alone? It wasn't fair. And here was her father's captain who was, at least up until three or four days ago, perfectly fine.

"Takagi-san was a decent man. He died for what he believed in, which is more than most men can say. It's how he wished to go," Saito said.

Anger flared inside of her. She glared at Saito and snapped, "Who wants to die early in life like that? And how would _you_ know what my father wanted?!"

When Saito did not respond, she stood up and said in a constricted voice, "You may have been his superior, but don't assume you knew my father better than me!"

And with that, she turned on her heel sharply and left the room. It was only with the greatest effort that she quelled the tears threatening to overflow. She couldn't cry like this. Crying wasn't going to make her father come back. It would only make him think she was weak. But, just because she stopped her tears didn't mean the pain was fading as easily.

She wasn't sure what made her so upset to find herself with her father's superior. She had no reason to hold a grudge against this man whom she did not even know. Part of her wanted to blame Saito for her father's death. If only Saito had been a better leader, if only Saito helped defend her father... But Tokio could never be sure of the exact circumstances of Kojuro's death, nor of Saito's involvement in it. She had no reason to hate him or blame him. It would take her a little while to calm down enough to be in the same room as him, but she promised herself she would not lash out childishly like that again.

Meanwhile, Saito laid back on the futon, staring up at the ceiling. Whatever the girl used as an anesthetic made him groggy clouded his mind. The best thing he could do was probably rest until the side effects wore off. He let himself fall asleep again for a few more hours.

When he awoke next, it was to the smell of hot soup. The girl had just entered the room with little Tami. Both were carrying bowls of what seemed to be miso soup. Saito couldn't even remember the last time he'd eaten. His gut lurched at the sight of the food. The girl gave him a knowing look and passed him a bowl. "Ah, so you are awake. I figured you might appreciate something to eat."

"Arigatou," Saito replied, eager to get something nourishing in his system. Painful though it was, he turned and sat up straight to eat.

Tami grabbed her chopsticks and chirped, "Itadakimasu!"

The girl and Saito ate in silence, but Tami kept up a steady stream of one-sided conversation. She talked about everything under the sun, from fireflies to market day. Strangely enough, Saito did not find the little girl's chatter irritating; on the contrary, it relaxed him for some reason. It had been so long that he'd last been around children that he almost forgot what they were like.

When Tami paused to slurp at the remains of her soup, the girl looked pointedly at Saito. "Your kimono is behind the curtain over there. It's clean and sewn up good as new." Upon seeing his bowl empty, she offered him seconds, which he declined. Satisfied, she took the used bowls and said to Tami, "Let's go clean up."

"Okay!" the little girl replied.

Saito clenched his jaw and brought himself slowly and unsteadily to his feet. He still had not completely recovered from the anesthesia; the pain in his abdomen was not as bad as it had been the previous night because of it, but he had a feeling that the cauterization would lead to more pain later on. But, Saito was not a man easily broken by physical pain. If he was, he would never have made it in with the Shinsengumi. He unwrapped the area slowly and looked down at where the entry point of his wound was. He could no longer see it due to the burn. Surprisingly, the burn was not as large as he'd expected. It was precise and as small as possible while still being effective. His overall tissue damage was not as bad as he expected after hearing the girl speak so casually about her knowledge of medicine. The fact that he was still alive was quite a feat after the perforating injury. Saito told himself that he would have been only that much of a man if he allowed himself to die so easily, but he also knew the girl deserved some credit.

He found his kimono neatly folded behind the curtain the girl indicated. The girl's hand with the human body seemed to be more keen than with fabric, however; she had indeed sewn up his kimono, but not with the expert hand she'd shown with the stab wound. However, there was no trace of blood upon the white fabric. If one overlooked the sloppy stitches, it might have looked as if it had never even been worn. Satisfied, he changed.

When the girl reentered the room not long after, she frowned. "I didn't mean you should change right away. I have to change your bandages."

He obeyed wordlessly, sitting back on his futon and slipping out of the top half of his kimono. The girl pulled her sleeves back and rinsed her hands. She knelt beside him and slowly removed the wrap. She observed the entry point with a satisfied nod, and surveyed the exit point in the back in a similar fashion. She then grabbed a fresh roll of bandages and wrapped him up once again. She felt so small compared to Saito from the way her arms had to reach to get the roll around his back. The faintest of blushes touched her cheeks.

She finished up and placed the remainder of the roll beside her on the floor. Having finished with that, she brushed her hair from her eyes hopelessly and looked up at him. "So, Saito-san... I'm going to move your room. You can take my brother's room since he won't be back for a few more days. It will be more comfortable for you while you recover."

She glanced up at him to see how he would react to this small change of arrangements. By his response, however, she was unsure whether or not he was actually listening to her.

"What's your name?"

She hesitated. "Takagi Tokio."

He nodded at her respectfully and said, "Takagi-kun, thank you, but that won't be necessary."

Tokio furrowed her brow, wondering what he meant by that. Suddenly, she was distracted.

"_Nee-saaan!_" Tami cried from down the hall. "_Nee-saaaaaan!_"

Panicking, Tokio sprang to her feet and ran off to the source of the noise. She expected to see that Tami had badly injured herself, but she was surprised to see her little sister running towards her unscathed. Tami tugged Tokio's sleeve to pull her closer. "Kachi-kun is here. He looks angry."

Tokio was instantly worried. Her cousin Kachiro was a typically laid back person. It took a great deal to get him riled up. In fact, she could not ever remember seeing him look angry. Why was he here now, and what had gotten him upset? She quickly ran to the front porch to greet him.

At twenty-two, Kachiro was both taller and broader than his late father. He was an imposing figure; at first glance, one would never think he was such a kind-hearted young man.

However, whatever had happened to him certainly agitated him. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw her.

"Tokio-chan, thank gods!" He embraced her tightly, and released her only to look her up and down carefully. "You're alright, aren't you? You're not hurt?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. "No... Why would I be hurt?"

He bit his lower lip and admitted, "I ran into your friend Saya in town today. She asked if I'd seen you around lately, because no one's heard from you in days. Then the neighbors told me that there was a nasty fight nearby a few nights ago... I was worried... I thought maybe you'd gotten stuck in the middle, and..."

Leave it to Kachiro to worry about her; he acted more like a big brother than Tokio's real brother did. She decided not to let him know how close to the truth he'd gotten. She chose not to tell him, not because she didn't want him to worry, but because Kachiro was an incredibly outspoken pro-Imperialist. If he knew what had happened, and whom she had been keeping in that very house, he would have been furious. The last thing Kachiro needed was more anxiety.

With her heart pounding, she said, "Don't worry about me. I'm perfectly fine."

Kachiro looked skeptical. "You look like you haven't slept in days. Please make sure you're taking care of yourself."

Tokio smiled, "I will. Tell oba-san I said hello."

With that, they parted ways. Tokio waited until he disappeared into the darkening night before she allowed herself a sigh of relief. Tami cocked her head to the side and asked, "Why didn't you tell Kachi-kun?"

She looked down at her younger sister with a twinge of sadness. "I couldn't. Kachiro would be very angry."

She remembered then that she was in the middle of helping Saito settle into her brother's room. She hurried back towards the room, calling, "Sorry, my cousin was just at the--"

Tokio stopped herself when she arrived at the room. She stared inside, wondering if her eyes had tricked her. But when she blinked and rubbed her eyes, the scene remained the same. The room was exactly the same... except for Saito.

Tami came to Tokio's side, her eyes scanning the room as well. She asked softly, "Nee-san? Where's ookami aniki?"

Ookami aniki. At first, Tokio did not understand. She was about to ask Tami whom she was referring to when it hit her. _Big brother wolf_. She meant Saito. And Tokio was wondering the exact same thing. The back door was slightly ajar. She knew then that he'd left. Tokio also knew with unwavering certainty that he was not planning to return. But where he'd gone or why he'd left so suddenly was a mystery to her. She surveyed the room, trying to see if there were any last traces of him there...

"I... don't know..."

He was gone.


	2. Dark Side of the Wolf

_A/N:_ So here's chapter two! Woohoo! It's sort of long, especially for me xD; Please remember to review ^.^~

_WARNINGS:_ Violence. Lots of blood. Some coarse language. Inexplicit sexual content/dialogue.

_Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin © Nobuhiro Watsuki. Heart of the Wolf © KaibaKitty._

June 5th, 1868 marked one month since the day Tokio's life had been spared. It had been a whole month since she met her late father's captain when he was briefly a part of the Shinsengumi.

Saito Hajime.

Not only had he saved her life, he'd turned it upside down. He'd thrown her for a loop with his bravery and unwavering sense of justice. It was a passion which she had never known nor could she even comprehend it. He was unlike any man she'd ever met, and he mystified her. She remembered how she watched over him for three days and nights without rest only to find out he had known her father. She hadn't forgiven him aloud for talking about her father in such a personal way, but she did not reprimand him further for it. But when she left the room for just a moment, he disappeared. Gone without a trace. As if he'd never been there to begin with.

A strange loneliness settled upon her shoulders since that night. Maybe it was because he was one of the last men to see her father alive. Maybe it was because he saved her where a lesser man would have turned away. Maybe it was because he continued to puzzle her – and she hated puzzles she could not solve. Regardless of the reason, the loneliness was there, and she knew she would not be satisfied until she either forgot about him or found him again.

"Nee-san!" Tami called in a singsong voice, "Do we have any more cake?"

Tokio rose to her feet and called back, "If we do, it's on the top shelf. I'll get it in a minute."

But Tokio was distracted by a figure who appeared at the front of the house. He stood there, watching. Waiting, perhaps. She watched him as well, both curious and on her guard. She wasn't expecting any visitors, and no one she knew stood around her house like that. Worried, she called, "Can I help you?"

A pleasant, high male voice replied, "You are Takagi Tokio-san?"

She got up and walked towards the door. Nodding, she said, "I am. Who are you?"

The man approached. He had a delicate, almost feminine face and an easy smile. He cocked his head to the side and said, "I knew your father. Kojuro-kun was a good man."

Now she was very anxious. Lots of people knew her father. The vast majority of them also knew he was dead. She definitely didn't recognize him as one of her father's acquaintances.

He came very close to her, just inches away. His childlike smile never faltered. "Can I please come in? I promise I won't stay long."

Even children knew not to let strangers in the house, even if said stranger looked about as ferocious as a butterfly. But she wasn't given much of a choice. His hand darted out and latched on to her upper arm. It wasn't painful, but it was too tight to escape. This innocent-looking stranger had just established his dominance.

Being escorted into her own house was just unacceptable. She wrenched her arm away once they crossed the threshold, though she was almost sure he slackened his grip purposely. Her father always told her never to be unarmed when she was alone. She learned her lesson after the run-in a month ago, and decided to take her father's advice as of late. She unsheathed a dagger she had hidden in her obi knot for just such an occasion and made sure it was in plain view to this stranger. She would not be easily kicked around again. The man did not seem surprised to see the weapon, but was rather amused. He held his hands up in surrender and chuckled, "My, he was right, you're quite the feisty one!"

"I'll ask again – who are you? Why are you here?" she demanded.

The man inclined his head respectfully. "I'm here on behalf of your father. Or rather, I'm here on behalf of someone who claims to be on behalf of your father. I'm to deliver you this message: tonight, you must leave Kyoto and head for a safe place."

His first, riddle-like comment almost perplexed her. Almost. The second piece was of much more importance. "_What?_" she asked incredulously. "Leave? Why?"

Something about him was off, she realized. He was still smiling that bright smile, still spoke in that pleasant tone. But something was just not right. When he looked at her with his cold, merciless eyes, the temperature of the room dropped ten degrees.

"Kyoto is going to become even more dangerous tonight, Tokio-san, and this will only be the beginning of the madness. Someone doesn't want you in the middle of it."

Kyoto? Dangerous? She found that hard to believe. There were plenty of dangerous people, but the city itself was safe and secure. But she did not doubt the severity of the man's words. If Kyoto was going to be that bad...

She hesitated and asked, "Who else knows to evacuate?"

The man looked mildly surprised and shrugged, "Oh, a few. Fifteen, maybe twenty or so if I had to put a number on it."

Twenty. Twenty of all the hundreds of people in the Imperial Capital. If Kyoto was about to be visited by this wave of evil, then why did so few people know about it? There was a question just as pressing that she had to know the answer to.

"Why... me?" she murmured.

He smiled tenderly at her and squeezed her shoulder for a brief moment. His voice dropped to a softer note. "Because someone thinks you've been through enough already."

_Someone who thinks_... Tokio wondered what that meant, whom he referred to. Then, she remembered. She remembered the day her father announced he was going to join the Shinsengumi, the letter that came announcing his death, the funeral at which her brother fell to pieces, the night she and Tami first saw a man die, the fear of being raped and killed at the hands of strange men, the moment she locked eyes with a proud wolf of Mibu for the first time...

The wolf of Mibu.

There was something in this man's face now, something that clearly said he knew exactly what she was thinking. Something that told her she was right. Her eyes widened. Staring unabashed at the man across from her, she muttered, "You... You are in the Shinsengumi?"

Chuckling, he made his way out. "Please do what I told you, Tokio-san. I'm afraid the man who claims to be on behalf of your father would grant me a painful death if he thought I hadn't passed his message on."

She stared after him, even though he disappeared from sight. Kyoto was about to become a deadly place. And if this "someone" – and she had a decent guess as to whom it was – saw fit to make her one of the privileged few who knew of this danger, then it had to be serious. Very, very serious.

Tami appeared holding a plate of pastry. She huffed, "I got the cake myself. We don't have much left. Can we go shopping for more?"

Tokio was startled. Something like a cake shortage had to be the farthest worry from her mind. Who cared how many sweets they had when everyone in the city was about to be faced with horrors unknown? At least, they were unknown to her, not to the Shinsengumi. She looked over at Tami, who was nibbling on the last bite of cake, when Tokio asked suddenly, "Where is Mori?"

Tami shrugged. "With Kachi-kun, preparing for the festival. Remember?"

_Well, now I do_. The Gion Festival was tonight. What a night for disaster to strike. What a night for her brother to be out of the house all day. _But, then again, this may make things easier_, she thought. If her brother, cousin, and aunt were all together – there was her whole family. She could round them up and leave .Her friends' houses were on the way to her aunt's place. She could warn them, too.

"Get your coat," Tokio ordered her sister.

"But it's hot out," Tami protested.

"Get it _now_."

"Are we going to the festival?"

For a moment, Tokio felt the need to inform the girl that it was much too early for the festival. The main events were in the evening, not during the day. But when she glanced outside, it was nearly sunset. She turned to Tami and demanded, "_Now_, Tami!"

This time, the girl did not question or disagree. She took off down the hall to her room. Deciding to be prepared, Tokio went to what used to be her parents' bedroom. She shoved aside the rolled up futons and pulled up the loose floorboard. Sitting in the false bottom was a stash of "just in case" funds. She figured that this was indeed an appropriate case, and stowed the bag in her sode. When she returned to the hall, Tami was holding her coat but still looked displeased. "What's the matter, nee-san?"

Kids shouldn't have to know such things. But was it better to be warned, or to be blissfully unaware until the dark truth jumps out at you? She took Tami by the shoulders and explained calmly, "Look, tonight... something very, very bad is going to happen. Before it does, we have to go somewhere safe. Okay?"

Tami's eyes widened. Tokio took advantage of her silence and hauled her outside. Minutes later, she had Tami puffing and panting after her as she ran between houses. Thanking whatever deities existed, she turned a corner and saw two people she wanted to see.

"Saya! Matsuda!" she called.

The two turned to look at Tokio in surprise. "Are the cops chasing you down again?" Saya asked jokingly.

"No time for jokes," Tokio panted. "You both need to get out of Kyoto tonight. Maybe you should even leave right now--"

"Whoa, whoa, Tokio-chan, have you been into the sake already or what?" Matsuda asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"I'm serious!" she insisted. "Something really bad is going to happen!"

Saya was beginning to look concerned. "What's this 'something'?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "All I know is that Kyoto is in serious trouble tonight. And we need to get out while there's time."

Saya and Matsuda exchanged an uneasy glance. Then, he looked at her skeptically. "That's a pretty tall tale to tell... but I know you're not one to lie about something like this. How are you so sure that something horrible is gonna happen? Who told you this?"

Tokio sighed, exasperated. "You wouldn't believe me even if I could tell you. But please, you two, get out of the city for tonight."

Without another word, she tore off again with Tami trailing behind. As she ran, she wondered how many of the other twenty people would tell a friend or neighbor about the danger. That would mean more people would be safe. But, how many of those friends and neighbors would listen? Even Tokio's best friends were skeptical about her story. She could only hope that this danger was exaggerated, that the people of Kyoto were not going to be in harm's way by staying...

But there was a nasty little voice inside of her head saying, _If the danger wasn't real, why would Saito pass along a message telling you to get out?_

She ran into her aunt's house calling, "Oba-san!"

Her aunt Michiko bore a striking resemblance to Tokio's late mother, being her older sister. Her face went from surprise to concern as she hurried forward to wipe sweat from her niece's brow. "Tokio-chan, what on earth is the matter?"

As quickly as she could, she told Michiko what she told her friends. While she gasped out all the details she could safely tell them, her brother Morinosuke and cousin Kachiro appeared alongside her aunt. Of course, none of them took her story seriously, especially since she couldn't even tell them where she got her information.

Mori rolled his eyes. "Please, ane. You probably heard all of that from a fortune teller or something, right?"

Finally, she decided she'd had enough of being doubted, despite how unlikely her story was. "Fine, then! Don't believe me! Be stubborn fools and walk straight into danger! I'm taking Tami and heading to Fukui for the night!"

The three of them still looked doubtful, albeit more worried. If Tokio and Tami were going to leave for the night, Mori would follow. He addressed Tokio as the older sibling even though she was a year younger than him. She was always the mature one, the natural leader of the three siblings. As the leader, he would have no choice but to walk in her footsteps whether he really wanted to or not. If the three of them left, Michiko would not be able to rest easily. Her nieces and nephew were like her own children, and she felt she had an obligation to treat them as such with their parents dead. She, too, would follow. Kachiro, whether he was going with the flow or just to keep watch over his family as the oldest male, would then go as well.

Tokio knew they would all have to follow her; the others knew that, too. It irked them, but it was the truth. Whether they were just admitting to this fact, or because the frantic look in her eyes finally convinced them, they all agreed to go. After spending the evening in the nearest village, they would return. Tokio heard the unspoken words on everyone's mind: If this is a lie or a joke, you're dead.

Not ten minutes later, they were ready to go. Reluctant, but ready. Whether or not they wanted to was irrelevant to Tokio, as long as they were _going_.

After some protesting from her, Kachiro convinced her to take the main road. "We might as well check out the festivities, since we won't be around to enjoy all of them later." Mori and Tami agreed immediately.

Michiko smiled. "Alright. It's the fastest way out of town anyway."

If only Tokio could make them stop feeling so lax! So what if it was the fastest way out? It wouldn't be the fastest anymore with all the people clogging up the streets, and with her family slowing down to look at a every stand and performance. Not even Michiko seemed to notice Tokio's frustration with them, as they were all absorbed by the festival they'd been looking forward to. In fact, Tokio doubted any of them actually remembered the real reason they were there in the first place.

Tami lifted her head and sniffed at the air. A grin broke out over her face. "I smell cake!" she exclaimed, "Can we get some, oba-san?"

Tokio shot a disapproving look at her sister. "No. You just ate some before we left."

Tami pouted, "Only a tiny bit!"

Michiko sighed, "Well, if we're leaving for the night, we really should hurry..."

Tokio could not have been more grateful towards her aunt at that moment. She almost breathed a sigh of relief, but Kachiro grinned, "It's only on the other side of the road. Want me to get some for you, Tami-chan?"

Tami's face brightened. "Please!"

Tokio stared incredulously. Mori rolled his eyes at her. "We'll be right back. I'm getting some, too."

Before she could stop them, they darted off. Tami clapped her hands happily. Michiko put her hand on Tokio's shoulder and said softly, "Please, dear, everything will be fine. Try to calm down. As soon as the boys get back, we'll leave."

Despite how her aunt tried to reassure her, Tokio's fears were not assuaged. How was she supposed to stay _calm_ at such a time? If only she could tune out all the noise and music and voices... If everyone else would just _stop_ so she could have a moment to collect her thoughts... to think...

Suddenly, everything went silent. The music stopped. No one spoke. No one drew breath. For some reason, no one moved. Initially she thought she'd finally gotten control of her mind, but that wasn't right. She blinked and looked around. She didn't notice, but her aunt hauled her over to the side of the road with Tami. Really, no one was moving or making a sound. And she found the reason why soon enough.

The tell tale pale blue and white haori were adorned by several men making their way down the street. Those haori were only worn by the Shinsengumi.

Tokio's heart stuttered in her chest as she watched them pass. Each face was as impassive as the next... with one outstanding, smiling exception.

It was the young man from earlier. The one who warned her of the danger about to befall her city. He looked as if he hadn't a care in the world, even though he was surrounded by one of the most feared groups of samurai in Japan. Reminding herself that he was one of them himself, she wondered how someone so childlike could be a killer.

He appeared to be talking to the man next to him. Tokio looked at the target of his attention and nearly kicked herself for not noticing him first. Just as Tokio noticed, it seemed someone else did as well.

"Ookami-san!"

Her blood froze in her veins. People surrounding them jumped, hissed, gasped. Slowly, Tokio lowered her gaze to look at Tami, who had just called one of them Shinsengumi officers "Mr. Wolf" in front of an enormous, silent crowd. In front of a pack of tense, armed, merciless samurai.

Tokio clapped her hand over Tami's mouth, but the damage was done. She hissed," What were you _thinking_--?"

But suddenly, Tami was on the ground. The man behind her growled fiercely and shoved the girl down. "Idiot child!" he snapped, "They'll kill us all for that!"

Tami sniffed, clutching her scraped hand to her chest. As if Tokio didn't have enough to deal with today, now this fool had to make her even _more_ wound up.

"How dare you touch my sister!" she snapped, getting in the man's face.

Michiko was kneeling, holding Tami. She murmured words of caution, but Tokio did not care. The man scowled and backhanded her. Tokio's face stung, but she gritted her teeth to keep from crying out.

"You stupid wench! That obnoxious brat of yours is going to be the death of all of us, don't you understand?!"

Now the silence of the crowd had been completely broken. People muttered, scowled, cried, quietly protested. She heard things like "Hitting girls – _really!_" and "Disgraceful..." along with many shouting "Shut up!" to the restless crowd.

Tokio wasn't even sure if she was bleeding or not, but her hand was itching to grab the dagger in her obi knot. She shoved him away from her and he staggered back several steps. "My sister isn't the obnoxious one. Look at yourself before you judge other people – what kind of a man goes around hitting girls?!"

Tokio had a feeling they were going to come to blows again – and she was right. At her words, the man's ruddy face flushed angrily. He growled and shoved Tokio back in kind. She went flying backwards without a way to catch herself – but she landed against something. Something firm, but upright. And then she felt a pair of strong hands steadying her by the shoulders. When she looked up, feelings of warmth and relief – and also excitement – flooded her.

It was Saito.

He was not alone. The young man she met earlier had approached the man. He spoke in a cheerful voice, but whatever he said was making the man – and the crowd within hearing range – cringe in fear. He extracted his sword for a moment and slashed it near the man. He yelped and jumped backward, but it seemed the young man had only sliced the other's bottle of sake in half. The remainder of the contents seeped into the ground and the bottle shattered.

Tokio, however, did not concern herself too much with this spectacle, because Saito was murmuring to her.

"Why haven't you left yet?"

"We're leaving now," she breathed in reply.

"Hurry up."

The young man turned, beaming. "Saito-kun, I believe our work is done. He's just a drunk."

Tokio looked up to see Saito nod in agreement, though he was glaring daggers at the man who had assaulted Tokio and Tami. "Thank you," she said to him in a normal tone of voice, and to the other man as well. He just smiled, but she thought he might have winked as well. He said, "It wasn't a problem, miss."

"Okita-kun!" someone called gruffly, "Saito-kun! Hurry up!"

The man named Okita called, "Coming!" He looked over at Saito, who finally released her, and the two rejoined their group. As they passed, movement and noise resumed. Many people were staring at the citizens who were the source of the commotion, as well as the backs of the Shinsengumi.

Tokio was attacked in a bear hug by Mori, who looked insane with worry. He looked her over for injuries while he gasped, "Oh, god, I thought you were going to get killed by one of those guys! Why do you always get in fights--"

"Nii-baka," Tami muttered. She rolled her eyes. "It was just ookami--"

Tokio covered her sister's mouth once again. Biting her lower lip, she tried to convey wordlessly that this wasn't the time or place. Tami simply looked indignant.

Thankfully, Michiko interrupted. "Don't say that, Tami. It's rude. Besides, you don't even know that man."

Tami pouted, "But oba-san!"

"No buts," Tokio said firmly. "She's right. Now let's get going!"

Mori frowned, clearly hoping that in all the confusion, Tokio had forgotten about their seemingly pointless venture. "Are you still going on about that 'danger' garbage?"

Tokio was reaching her breaking point. "The fact that I know something bad is going to happen has absolutely no correlation with the Shinsengumi going for a stroll down main street, then?"

Her brother shook his head, as if trying to explain something simple to a small child. "They always strut around, just not in such big groups. The festival is just another way for them to get a power trip."

She heard Kachiro mutter in agreement. But deep inside of her, something began boiling in the pit of her stomach. Anger. Fury. Rage. "You forget too soon, Morinosuke, that your father pledged his allegiance to those so-called strutting wolves!"

This silenced Mori. He had no room to argue once their father was brought into the conversation. Michiko seemed to have reached her wit's end as well as Tokio. With a sigh of frustration, she said exasperatedly, "Look, not is not the time for bickering. We'll listen to Tokio, but we'll never reach the village at the rate we're going now!"

Tokio had never agreed with her aunt more. She nodded and took Tami's hand as they headed for the road leading out of the village. Finally, they were making progress. Mori and Kachiro spoke in hushed voices, walking a few paces behind the other three. Tokio had no doubt that they were quietly discussing – or rather, complaining – about the plans they made for the festival and how they were now ruined. _Well,_ Tokio thought, _they can complain all they want. If the whole city is decimated when we return, they'll be thanking me for getting them out just in time._

She stopped her train of thought there. What _would_ she find come tomorrow? Would her home still be standing? Would there be a Kyoto to come back to? Something awful was going to happen, of that she was sure... but anything beyond that, she could only wonder about and fear silently. With a brief shudder, she tried to think of something else.

Instantly, Saito came to mind. Something was going to happen in Kyoto. What would his role be? How was he involved? She was frustrated that even though she tried to think of something else, it all came back to the same subject. But thinking of Saito and how specifically he was a part of this plan kept her wondering.

She was lost in thought until she noticed a solid wall of people blocking the main road in front of her. Michiko murmured, "Oh, dear..." The family fought their way to the front of the crowd, but were no better off. There were fire eaters performing. There was no way to safely get around them to the other side. Tokio tried to suggest doubling back and finding a side street, but Mori flatly refused. "Oh, come _on_, ane-san! We might as well just wait for them to finish."

"Besides, it's the only entertainment we'll get to see," Kachiro agreed. Tokio tried to appeal to Michiko, but even her aunt was enjoying the performers. Once again, her family was oblivious to the danger they were facing. Tokio wanted to tear at her hair and scream. What was it going to take to convince them that if they didn't get out, they might _die?_

Sulkily, Tokio watched the performers as well. In the new night sky, they looked truly spectacular. Even she had to admit it, despite her worries. At long last, the act came to an end. The men bowed and collected money from the crowd. Tokio tossed in a coin as well at Tami's urging, but insisted, "Can we please go now?"

It took all of her self control to keep from smacking her brother upside the head when he replied, "It's too late to leave now, it's dark out. We won't make it to the village."

"We'll bring lanterns," she snapped. "We're leaving, Mori, whether you like it or not!"

Resolving that they were too far to go back to their of their houses for lanterns, Michiko decided to find a vendor who sold them. Tokio gave her the money she brought and waited impatiently with the others. It didn't take long for the brothel girls to notice fresh blood, however, and they came over to flirt shamelessly with Mori and Kachiro. Mori grinned at them, trying to emulate Kachiro's mature, suave demeanor. Kachiro merely rolled his eyes at his cousin and told the two young women they would come by some other night. Tokio was too preoccupied to even scold them.

Further up the road, Michiko was waving to them, as if telling them to come closer. So, they did so.

It was then that Tokio realized everything around her with startling clarity. The smell of ginger and teriyaki in the air. The flashes of light from loose fireworks. The yells of merchants. The melody of music. The laughter of children. She looked to her right. A man sat at a booth surrounded by a collection of origami cranes of all sizes and colors. She looked to her right. It was the Ikeda-ya.

As soon as they reached Michiko, she handed Tokio and Kachiro the lanterns. She was speaking, but Tokio wasn't paying attention.

Everything happened so fast. One moment, Kachiro was lighting his lantern. Tami tugged on her brother's sleeve, asking if the flickers of light down the road were fireflies. Not one citizen on the streets of Kyoto believed anything to be wrong.

Then, pandemonium ensued.

Tokio stared across the street, drawn to the source of the commotion: the Ikeda-ya. People were scattering from the inn like it had exploded. Such a thing might have actually happened by the way people were screaming and ran away from it. However, even though people ran every which way, even though Mori yanked on her arm desperately to pull her away, Tokio was rooted to the spot. She couldn't have moved even if she tried. The scene unfolding before her left her feeling cold and hollow.

Filing out of the inn were men wearing the Shinsengumi. Now each and every one was drenched in blood. She was positive that the blood was not their own. She found Saito's face immediately among the others. He was not stony faced or sullen like many of the others. Beside him, Okita smiled serenely as ever. Saito was smirking. Before, she attributed the expression with confidence. Now it was with blood lust. It was a chilling expression. There was a look in his eyes, something so human, and yet so animal... Something primal and fierce. The pack had just gone hunting, and Saito was the one most satisfied by their prey. But Tokio reminded herself that Saito was human, and his prey was human. He had no doubt just killed... but how many? To be covered in so much blood...

For the first time, she looked upon Saito, not with awe or contentment or even anger, but fear. _Fear_. Tokio feared little in life. She saw Saito as a protector, her mysterious guardian. Now, however, she saw him as something quite different: a murderer.

The word stained her mind like red wine on silk. She didn't realize how badly she was trembling until she inadvertently took a step backwards.

She watched Saito kill before, but this was different. Before, he'd been fighting the Ishin Shishi and thugs in the streets. At that time, he was fighting them out of necessity. Skirmishes between opposing sides always happened in war. The Shinsengumi were police; it was their job to enforce the law, which radical revolutionaries were breaking. Detaining them – and if needed, killing them – was essential for his job, his survival, and the welfare of the citizens he was obligated to protect. But this -- whatever had just happened in the Ikeda-ya -- this was different. This was premeditated. He _knew_ the Shinsengumi were going to hunt tonight. How else would he have been able to warn her of the danger beforehand?

Tokio tried to calm herself for a moment – just a moment. Just because there was a large quantity of blood did not have to mean that people had been killed. As she looked at the group, she saw several men injured, not in uniform, and with their hands tied behind their backs. Maybe they were just another radical group causing trouble. But, even as she tried to tell herself this, the last few of the Shinsengumi to exit the inn tossed eight corpses into the street. Eight corpses of the Patriots.

She wanted to know why. What warranted this degree of murder? There was an equally powerful urge burning inside of her: the urge to run. Seeing Saito in this new, dangerous light made her want to put as much distance between herself and those blood-drenched men as possible. If only she wasn't frozen in place...

It was Mori who dragged her away from the street. He held her close to his chest. She could hear his heart's erratic pounding. She felt pressure against her leg and found Tami clinging to her and her brother. Tokio looked down at Tami. She wanted to whisper words of comfort, though she could think of none. Surely, seeing Saito covered in blood like that scared her, too. Tami needed to be consoled. But to Tokio's confusion, her little sister was not crying or trembling in fear. Tami was staring after the Shinsengumi with a curious, thoughtful look upon her young face.

Tokio didn't care anymore. She was so confused and frightened. Saito was a bloodthirsty killer, illuminated as she'd been too naïve to see before. He was not her fearless protector. He was a _murderer_. She felt so empty and lonely. Her body didn't want to move. When she cared enough to notice her surroundings again, they were back at her home. Mori or Kachiro must have carried her. Or maybe they dragged her. She didn't know, nor was she bothered by it.

Michiko, Kachiro, and Mori were absorbed in deep discussion. Tokio was sitting with a cup of lukewarm tea in front of her. Tami was by her side, her small hand curled around her big sister's wrist. It was a minute comfort, and ultimately doing nothing for the increasing pain in her chest. She listened in on the discussion the rest of her family was having.

"It was the Choshu leaders," Michiko confirmed. "Yoshida-san's body was one of the ones in the street."

"What about Katsura-san? Miyabe-san?" Kachiro asked.

"I think it's safe to assume they got killed, too. Didn't see 'em with the ones who got arrested," Mori muttered.

Michiko wiped her damp cheeks with the corner of a handkerchief. She sighed slowly and murmured, "It's madness... In the middle of the Gion Festival...!"

"Damn those wolves!" her cousin swore darkly. Even in her apathetic state, Tokio shuddered at Kachiro's menacing tone. "They think they can just storm the city, act like they own the place, and kill a few people why they're at it. The Imperialists won't take this lying down. They'll crush them like the dogs they are."

_Slam_. Mori jumped to his feet heatedly and shouted, "Shut up! The Shinsengumi have their faults, but my father was no dog!"

"Your father was killed because he was foolish enough to side with the Shogunate," Kachiro retorted. "If he was wise, he'd never have gotten involved with those fools in Miburo!"

Mori looked ready to come to blows with his cousin, but Michiko fearfully intervened. "Boys, stop fighting! Kojuro-san has nothing to do with this, and blaming one side or the other won't help us! It's certain that this is just the beginning – Kachiro, you're right, the Imperialists will strike back at the Shogunate. Kyoto is likely to be involved again. We need to decide what to do now."

"What else can we do? We have to leave before the fighting breaks out for real," Mori said, slamming his fist into his palm.

Kachiro had settled down, but he still spoke with a bitter edge. "Don't be an idiot. It wouldn't matter even if we went as far as Hokkaido. This war would still be going on. It's time to stop turning our backs on it – I say we fight. Okaa-san, you can take Tokio and Tami to Edo for the time being."

Michiko shook her head at her son. "Fight? Don't be a fool. Neither of you boys are proficient enough in kenjutsu to stand a chance. I agree with Mori; for now, we ensure our own safety."

Kachiro snapped, "The only reason why Mori wants to leave is because Tokio suggested it first."

A brief silence fell over the family at that statement. Kachiro himself seemed to have realized the weight of what he said, and a look of suspicion spread over his face. Tokio looked up slowly to observe the others... only to find that four pairs of eyes were locked on her. It was Kachiro who broke the silence, who asked the question on everyone's mind.

"Tokio, how did you know the Ikeda-ya was going to be attacked tonight?"

She replied honestly, "I didn't."

"You did," he said, rising, "You've been telling us all night that we had to leave because something was going to happen tonight. You _knew_ what the Shinsengumi were plotting all along!"

She remained impassive. "I didn't know."

"Then why were you so adamant about getting out of Kyoto tonight?"

There was no point in hiding it. She murmured, "Today, a man came to the house. He told me that something was going to happen, and to leave immediately."

"And you just believed the words of a stranger?" he asked sarcastically.

"He knew my father."

A surprised silence blanketed them. Once again, Kachiro was the first to react. "You mean he was one of your father's former comrades."

She was silent.

"Admit it! You knew! You were involved all this time, and you've been _lying_ to us--"

Finally, Mori snapped. He stood protectively in front of Tokio, boldly standing up to his much stronger cousin with a look of fury. "That's enough! Tokio had nothing to do with this! She couldn't have known what was going on, so stop overreacting!"

Before Kachiro could say another word, Tokio stood up quickly. "I'm going to get some water."

None of them had a chance to stop her. She walked outside was fast as she could and took a gulp of fresh air to calm herself, though it was hardy effective. Her mind was racing. She was angry for so many reasons. She was angry with Kachiro for suggesting she'd known the Shinsengumi's plans. She was angry with Saito's blood lust. She was angry with herself for thinking he was different. And coupled with her anger was sorrow. Every reason she was furious was a reason why she felt like breaking down. Saito, even though she believed he was a good person, had shown his dark side. A side she never wanted to see. Kachiro, her own cousin, was turning on her for lack of anyone else to blame. Tokio felt so incredibly foolish.

She held her head in her hands, as if she could stop thinking of all these horrible things by that physical action. Her throat was tight as her mind flooded again with images: the dead Ishin Shishi, the panicking citizens, the blood-covered police, the look of fierce joy in Saito's gleaming, dangerous, amber eyes...

Desperately, she tried to clear her mind. She had to calm herself. Getting worked up would amount to nothing. All she could do was try to relax and think everything through, slowly and calmly.

Just as she drew water from the well, however, a feeling came over Tokio. She balanced the bucket on the edge of the well and paused. The feeling that came over her was unfamiliar, and yet she knew in an instant what it meant. As the hair on the back of her neck prickled, she knew she was being watched. She also knew who it must have been; who else would stare at her from the shadows at this hour? Hesitating, she wondered whether or not she should actually acknowledge his presence. Maybe it would be best to just turn around and go back inside. But he was there, and a closed door would not deter him.

Reluctance and common sense holding her back, she slowly turned around to meet the wolf's golden stare. Saito stood enveloped in shadow, only the slightest sliver of light from the house falling over his face. Tokio was unsure whether or not she imagined it, or it she could in fact see the blood on his clothes. Was she just conjuring up an image of him from her memory? He did not leave the darkness, so she couldn't be certain of exactly how he looked; nevertheless, there was not a doubt in her mind that he was still covered in blood. Even if her eyes were blind in the night, the rest of her senses were not impaired. A breeze wafted towards her; the repugnant scent of gore clung to him like a miasma.

She wanted to scream for her brother and cousin. She wanted them to protect her from this monster she'd grown so attached to. But she couldn't. Tokio could barely breathe. Lightheaded and trembling like a leaf, she wondered vaguely why her legs didn't give out.

"What are you doing here?" Saito hissed. His voice carried, though he was several paces away.

That seemed to be a ludicrous question to ask. If she'd found her voice, she would have asked him the same thing already. Before that night, her snappy retort would have been, "I live here. What's _your_ excuse?" Of course, she didn't. She did nothing but stare back at him as if she were deaf and mute.

He snarled, "Why don't you _listen?_ You should be far from Kyoto by now."

She had to ponder this statement for a moment. When Okita came to her earlier, he did say that something catastrophic would happen by night. But the Ikeda-ya had already been attacked. The Choshu leaders were dead or otherwise arrested by the Shinsengumi. The danger had passed… right? She forced herself to form the frail word, "Why?"

It was his turn to stare at her uncomprehendingly. Or at least, that was how she imagined his face would look during the few silent seconds that passed. "Don't tell me you think you're safe here."

Tokio had always seen Kyoto as a brilliant place, the ideal capital of Japan. It was secure and bustling and prosperous. That was the Kyoto of her childhood. That was the Kyoto she cherished and clung to even now as the memories of those peaceful days slipped through her fingers like smoke. The reality was that there was a war going on, and Kyoto was the grand stage of the power struggle between the Imperialists and the Shogunate. People on both sides – and on no side at all – were dying by day and night. Children knew nothing but bloodshed and death. Women were widowed, children orphaned, entire clans laid to waste… Kyoto was the most dangerous place in the world, and Tokio was only just realizing it.

When she lowered her gaze and stared at the ground, the shame she felt was like a physical blow. She was too stubborn to admit the danger. She clung to the withering memories as if that might make them reality. By doing so, she allowed her family to remain at risk. Tami and Mori always looked to her, the mature one, the wise one, the brave one, for a decision. And for so long now, she'd been making all the wrong decisions. Tokio didn't feel at all mature, brave, or wise. She felt young, weak, and foolish. Especially in front of Saito.

This was not the first time she'd felt like that before him. In fact, the night she first met him she felt much the same. Thinking back on that night, she remembered far too clearly the horrible danger she'd put herself and Tami in. If Saito hadn't been there... She felt sick to her stomach.

"You are not just another citizen of Kyoto," Saito explained, bordering on exasperation, "Your father was well known as an advocate and member of the Shinsengumi around here. If word spreads to any radical Imperialists, you and your family are dead."

She hadn't even considered her father as a factor. Saito was right. Everyone in the neighborhood knew of Kojuro's strong support of the Shogunate. Tokio never even thought that any of them might harbor any feelings of discontent towards her for it. But if someone found out... If someone truly hated the Tokugawa and the Shinsengumi that much... her life, and the lives of her remaining relatives, meant little. As these realizations unfurled, she buried her face in her hands, wondering how on earth things had gotten so bad...

"I... I don't know what to do," she admitted, the reply muffled, "We can't stay... but we have no where to go..."

Kyoto was her home, her beloved home. But staying there now was suicide. The only logical solution was to leave. But to where? Tokio had no friends outside of Kyoto. Her only remaining relatives were in Tochigi, and it would take them far too long to get there. They didn't have money to stay indefinitely at an inn, and none of them were competent enough to live outdoors for more than a day or two. The only place she could go to was a home that seemed to have a giant target attached to it.

Saito seemed to be watching her even more intently from the shadows. But Tokio did not dare move even an inch. However dangerous Kyoto may have been, it was nothing compared to being contemplated by a wolf of Mibu – a killer.

"Go to Wakasa. Find the inn called the Saba Ryokan. You and your family can stay there until Kyoto is safe," he said.

Slowly, she lowered her hands from her face, looking defeated. She was in no position to argue with a murderer, but she reminded him quietly, "We don't have enough money for that."

"Forget about it. All expenses have been taken care of," he said dismissively.

She could hardly believe her ears. She stared at him, hopelessly trying to discern his expression. "Are you saying... you paid for it yourself...?"

He paused. "No. When you get there, ask for the landlord. Give him this, and he won't be able to refuse you."

Something white flew out of the darkness towards her. In her frazzled state, she yelped and stumbled away from it. When her eyes adjusted, she saw that it was only a folded piece of paper. Had she not been struggling to control her wildly beating heart, she might have had enough time to really feel like an idiot.

Saito ignored her outburst, but Michiko did not."Tokio?" she called from inside, "Are you alright?"

Quickly, too quickly, she replied, "Ye-yes, I'm fine! I'll be inside in a minute!"

It sounded suspicious at best, but what else was she to do? She looked again to Saito, whom she half-expected to be long gone by the time she looked back. He was still there, regardless. Against her better judgment, she looked away again and stooped to pick up the paper. Could this letter really be her family's ticket to safety? It seemed too good to be true. Too simple. There must have been a catch. Nothing could possibly run as smoothly as planned; she knew this well enough.

Perhaps this was a game of cat and mouse to him. Or rather, wolf and mouse. Maybe Saito just enjoyed stringing her along, giving her hope again, trying to regain her trust. Maybe it gave him a thrill to toy with her emotions before killing her as he had killed so many others. _What an incredibly morbid person I've become to think that_, she thought. _And what a sadist he is if that truly is his plan._

She was so confused. Part of her was screaming that this was a trap, and Saito was just going to kill her for fun anyway. But there was another part of her that said – no, whispered – that she had to trust him on this.

If he wasn't toying with her, if this brutal killer was showing her a kind gesture, then she wanted to know: "Why?"

_Why me? _she wondered. _Why is he doing all of this for me?_

There had to be a reason. There was always a reason. It was not enough that they were acquaintances, or that her father was once Saito's loyal subordinate. If he truly was acting only on her behalf, then _why?_

Saito said, "Leave immediately tomorrow morning."

He evaded her question. Furious with him, terrified of him, desperate for him, Tokio forced out a strangled thought she'd been struggling with all night. "Why should I trust you?"

Indeed, what reason did she have to trust him? He killed so many in front of her, and even more behind the scenes. He was skilled – and deadly. He could dispose of her in less than a second if she displeased him in some way. He'd given her no reason to be near him, let alone trust him. Yet, she was expected to blindly, unquestioningly do his bidding. It was stupid to ask, as whether or not he was being honest, he would say or do something to convince her to believe in him. There was no way she could be certain he wasn't lying.

However, of all the answers Tokio thought he might give, the actual response was not one she ever would have expected.

He chuckled humorlessly. "You shouldn't."

She stared after him, floored. What was she to make of that? Before she could give any sort of reply, he melted away into the darkness before her very eyes like a phantom.

Again, Michiko called for her niece. Tokio looked down at the letter clutched in her clammy hands and decided that, even if she couldn't trust Saito, she knew he was right. She had to take her family and leave. Tomorrow. And as for the letter and the Saba Ryokan? For those, she needed to have a little faith in the wolf. Steeling herself, she headed into the house with renewed strength, preparing to lead them on.


	3. The Saba Ryokan

A/N: Yeah... So... Sorry about the later-than-expected update .;; I've been feeling a little swamped lately, thanks to college, school, lack of sleep, lack of eating, a hyper active niece on my hands... Yeah. Writing just hasn't been high up on my to-do list. So, I apologize for the wait. And to those of you who have reviewed, I can't thank you enough ^.^ You guys rock3

Hope you enjoy~!

Warning: Blood, war, death, sensitive topics, some coarse language (I think).

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin © Nobuhiro Watsuki. Heart of the Wolf © KaibaKitty.

The journey took a full day. Wakasa was not that far, but for four people (three of whom were incredibly reluctant) and a child laden with luggage to go on foot was no simple task. The region was old, just outside of the prefecture, and there wasn't much there since the majority of urban splendor was in central Kyoto.

They found an old man fishing by a stream, and Tokio asked, "Excuse me, can you tell me where the Saba Ryokan is?"

The old man tilted his hat away from his eyes to get a better look at her. His gaze wandered from her to her family a little ways away. He nodded and said hoarsely, "You're not an hour from it. Take the road over there and you'll be in the village in no time. The inn is by the town's east gate."

After thanking him, Tokio relayed the news to her exhausted family. Night was falling, and more than ever, her family wanted to settle down somewhere safe for the night.

The duration of the trip was spent mostly in silence. It wasn't as though none of them had anything to say, however; on the contrary, Mori, Kachiro, and Michiko all had things they wanted to say to Tokio, especially after the fiasco the previous night. But they were too focused and tired to argue on the journey.

It began the night before when Tokio came back inside after her brief meeting with Saito. When she explained her plan to take them all to the Saba Ryokan for safety measures, she was met with general confusion. Why Wakasa? Why the Saba Ryokan? Where was the money coming from? How did she come up with this plan? She insisted that she couldn't tell them everything, only that a police officer told her to go there.

Ever the sharp one, Kachiro glowered at her and muttered, "You mean a special police officer? Like one from Miburo?"

She refused to answer him. Kachiro's tirade began. He pelted her with question after question about her alleged relationship with this member of the Shinsengumi, as he was certain that she had one. He even had the gall to accuse her of sleeping with the commander, Kondo Isami. Mori didn't even tell him to back off this time, and Michiko was firmly convinced, like Kachiro, that she was 'fraternizing with the enemy.'

Tokio could not confirm or deny what they were saying. When she met Saito, there was a spark, a flare of attraction. She wanted him – desired him – as she never had another man. She would never admit it aloud. Now that she had seen what he was capable of, that desire was overridden by primal fear. Instinctively, she knew he was dangerous and the only way to ensure her survival was to flee. But, somehow, even that did not make the little flare flicker out entirely. She could never tell them, but neither could she lie to them. So, she remained silent.

Just as the first stars began to glimmer, Tokio caught sight of the inn. It was a simple building, but the sign was lavishly decorated with a crescent moon and sun. Mori expressed his relief with a whoop of joy, which woke the sleeping Tami riding on his back. Though the town itself seemed rather small and quiet, the inn sounded boisterous. Tokio led the way inside. However, they hadn't all even crossed the threshold before a harassed-looking man ran in by and stared down at her.

"No way – no, I'm sorry, I'm booked. No vacancies. Try the Aoi-ya in Kyoto."

Tokio stared at him incredulously. She'd been rejected and she hadn't even asked for a room yet! Before he could run off with his four bottles of sake, she grabbed his sleeve. "But we just came from Kyoto, and--"

He dropped all polite pretenses and snapped with a sour look on his face, "Look, kid, I've got twenty-three guests to host and only one other set of hands to help me. There is just no way I can accommodate you, so scram!"

"Bastard," Mori muttered under his breath. "There has to be another inn around here somewhere."

"But he said the letter is for the landlord of _this_ inn," Tokio hissed in reply.

Kachiro rolled his eyes at her. He seemed to doubt the existence of this letter in the first place as Tokio allowed no one to read it. She hadn't even read it herself. She followed the landlord into the dining hall, where he was passing out the alcohol with a strained smile on his face. A few of the guests looked up at Tokio with mild interest when she entered. The landlord's face was the only one showing hostility. "Didn't I just say--"

Without letting him finish, she held out Saito's letter. "I was told if I gave you this, you wouldn't be able to turn us away."

He scowled. "What nonsense..." He swiped the letter from her. "Give me that!"

He unfolded it. As he read it, his frustration turned into confusion. When he scanned the last line, his mouth fell open. He stared from the letter to Tokio, shocked for reasons she could not fathom. He took her by the shoulder and steered her out of the room, murmuring, "Well... you were certainly right. I can't turn you away. But we'll have to make some arrangements."

Tokio turned to her family and beckoned them in, just as bewildered as they were by the turn of events. Michiko led the others in after Tokio, appearing curious. What on earth did Saito say in that letter to make the landlord have such a drastic change of heart?

He led them into the back room which was apparently his office. He invited them all to sit down; he did as well, bowing until his forehead touched the floor. Righting himself, he said, "I'm Yamaguchi Hiroaki, the landlord. I'm sorry for treating you all so brusquely earlier. I was not aware of the circumstances. I take it you," he addressed Tokio, "are Takagi Tokio-san?"

"Yes," she replied. "And this is my aunt, Numazawa Michiko, her son Kachiro, my brother Mori, and my sister Tami."

He bowed again. "Welcome. Though I'm afraid I was being honest when I said I could not accommodate you. All of my rooms are full, and my wife and I can just barely serve all our guests as it is."

Tokio's heart began to sink. If Yamaguchi Hiroaki had no room, they were lost... But he continued, "However... as you are not just another traveler, Takagi-san, I can't refuse you. You and your family are welcome to stay in my house for as long as needed, provided that you work at my inn for the duration of your stay."

She couldn't believe her ears. Tokio stared at this man whom she'd just met, taken aback by his kindness. She and the others were too tired to speculate as to what set them apart from any one else, but graciously accepted the offer.

Most of the inn's guests were heading off to bed, so Hiroaki disappeared for a few moments to tell his wife about the arrangements and ask her to take over while he took the family to their house.

The Yamaguchi house was attached to the inn. He took them inside and directed Kachiro and Mori to one room. Inside was a single futon and several children's toys. "This is my daughter Yukiko's room," he explained. "The three of us will be staying here." He passed them both futons he'd taken from the inn. Then he led Michiko, Tami, and Tokio to the master bedroom. "The three of you will share this room with my wife and daughter. I hope you don't mind the cramped space."

Michiko waved her hand dismissively. "Nonsense. We're lucky you took us in at all. You have our gratitude, Yamaguchi-kun."

Tami yawned hugely, resting her head on Tokio's leg. With some effort, Tokio lifted her tired sister up and laid her down on the futon Michiko rolled out for her. Within moments, she was asleep. Tokio tucked her little sister in and offered to help Hiroaki with the rest of the sleeping arrangements.

Tokio found this time alone with him to be the perfect opportunity to question him. "Yamaguchi-kun, I--"

"Please," he smiled tiredly, "you can call me Hiroaki."

"Hiroaki-kun," she corrected herself, "how do you know Saito?"

At the name 'Saito,' Hiroaki allowed himself a chuckle. "So that's what he calls himself these days? Well, I suppose I know him better than most, though it's been a few years since I last saw him. He's my little brother."

It was dawn. Although she'd been exhausted the night before, Tokio didn't sleep a wink. She stayed up the whole night, wondering...

_Hiroaki-kun is Saito's older brother_, she repeated to herself, though she was still having trouble believing it. Well, they were both tall and thin. But Hiroaki did not have his brother's hollowed cheeks, amber eyes, or imposing demeanor. On the contrary, Hiroaki was something of a flirt, a quality she could never had imagined Saito having. The only thing they truly seemed to have in common was pride.

Hiroaki was awake early to prepare food and baths for his quests. His wife Yukari cooked and entertained the guests. She was a stunning woman; when Tokio saw her in the daylight, she felt instantly jealous. She awoke to see Yukari delicately applying make-up. Tokio stared unabashed. Yukari's lips shone like red rose petals and her eyelashes were a mile long. Perfect almond-shaped eyes were set into her tanned face. Long hair like black silk flowed down her slender back. A simple, elegant comb held her braided bun in place. She was like a tennyo, a heavenly maiden, fallen to earth.

Tokio then observed herself. Her nut brown hair was wild and wiry. It sat pointlessly in a loose ponytail, leaving most of her hair unmanaged and unbound. Then, there were her eyes – big, dark, and almost black, without a trace of the forest green that glinted in Yukari's eyes. Where Yukari had slim legs that seemed to stretch on forever, Tokio was shorter and her legs looked heavier because of the muscle in her calves and thighs. Yukari's skin was as smooth and unblemished as it was the day she left the womb; Tokio had rough knees and elbows, and had numerous tiny scars from roughhousing with Kachiro and Mori. Physically, Tokio thought with a frown, they could not have been more different.

Yukari looked over at Tokio, not quite understanding the younger girl's displeasure. "Did you not sleep well, Tokio-kun?"

"No, I slept fine," she lied quickly. "Where is Hiroaki-kun?"

"He should be in his office right now. Shall I take you there?"

Together, the glowing Yukari and sullen Tokio made their way to the inn. Yukari greeted her husband with a kiss and went to the kitchen. Hiroaki closed the door and gestured for Tokio to sit down. She murmured wistfully, "Your wife is beautiful."

A dreamy look came over the man's face. "She is indeed. Yukari and Yukiko are my pride and joy."

Tokio remained silent. For a moment, she allowed her mind to wander a bit. She'd never even considered marriage before. Well, there was that one time when Mori told her she should marry someone wealthy so that he, Tokio, and Tami didn't starve or end up on the streets. But Tokio never actually gave that any thought. Now, however, she was panicking a little as she tried to picture herself as a wife some day. How could a fatherless, penniless, unpolished girl like herself make any man feel as happy as Yukari made Hiroaki? Hiroaki inspected Tokio shrewdly and grinned, "But you're not here to talk about Yukari."

The girl shook her head, trying to focus on the matter at hand. "No... I wanted to talk to you about Saito. Or, rather, I want _you_ to talk to _me_ about Saito."

He smiled sympathetically at her as he made a quick note on a document in front of him. "I suppose you want me to tell you about his past, is that right? You want me to give you a reason to believe he's just... misunderstood. I could spout some fantasy story like that for you, my dear, but I'm afraid it would be a load of bull."

Tokio could only stare at him, floored. He read her mind. Indeed, she had been thinking – hoping, praying – that there was more to Saito. More to him that she did not understand. Perhaps, by looking into his past, she would know... Perhaps she could coax that flare of desire to life once more. She didn't _want_ to be afraid of Saito. Now she wanted a reason to trust him again. But the way Hiroaki was talking... It was like he already decided that this was a lost cause.

"Well, you're a gutsy kid. Not many think he's even remotely approachable, but from that letter you gave me, it seems the two of you have got a bit of a story unfolding. If you really want to know more about him, I'll tell you – but I can't guarantee you'll like all of it."

She waited on bated breath for him to continue. He casually stamped a seal on two more documents, piled them neatly, and reclined onto his palms. He closed his eyes and began.

"'Saito' as you call him is three years younger than me. That makes him twenty-two this year." Tokio did some fast math; he was about six years older than her. "He's the youngest of three. We have an older sister, too – Katsu. Our parents live in Edo. Father is a minor retainer to the Shogunate. From a very young age, Hajime wanted to be a samurai. He could recite the Bushido in his sleep by the time he was ten. He enrolled in a local kenjutsu school, and he surpassed everyone else. No one could keep up with him, especially not when he got his adrenaline rush in a fight. Then, one day, he was sparring with a guy from a different school. Unfortunately for my brother, the other guy had a katana, and all Hajime had was a bokken from the dojo. But, he wasn't the type to back down from a difficult fight. It wouldn't even surprise me if the 'challenge' made him even more excited during the fight. Granted, it wasn't a long one. He got a hold of the other guy's sword somehow, and ended up killing him. But it wasn't some peasant that got a gut full of steel – it was a hatamoto's son. Hajime got away before anyone saw and came right home. He told Katsu and I what happened, and that he had to leave. Before either of us even grasped the situation, he was halfway out of town. I assume that's when he dropped his family name."

Tokio stared down at her palms. She bit her lips, wondering why on earth she was expecting a different story to explain his blood lust and nonchalance in the face of death and murder. But this? This story explained nothing. All she knew for certain now was that Saito, even as a boy, was fascinated by the art of killing. But as to _why_ he was that way, and why he became a member of the Shinsengumi, was beyond her. She heaved a sigh. True, as Hiroaki predicted, she was not happy with what she heard. Hiroaki flashed her another sympathetic smile.

"Well, I've told you about his past. Now you tell me what he's been doing in the present," he insisted.

She looked up at him in surprise. He wanted her to fill him in? Tokio opened her mouth – only to realize she had no idea what to say. Her brow furrowed in frustration. She began unsteadily, "He's... He's a squad captain of the Shinsengumi."

His mouth fell open slightly. Color drained from his face. "_Seriously?_ No kidding?"

Tokio nodded. Hiroaki whistled. "Damn... I should have known he'd fit in perfectly with those wolves. What else?"

What else, indeed. She fidgeted awkwardly and figured she had to say something. "Er... he-he's killed more people than just that hatamoto. That's how I met him."

Hiroaki's eyebrows flew up his forehead. She explained, "I was attacked by some thugs and he saved me." Hiroaki nodded to show his understanding, but seemed to survey her more intently than before. She tried to think of something – anything – else to add. "He's, um... He's kind of a jackass."

She wanted to bite her tongue. _He's kind of a jackass_. What the hell was she thinking? Hiroaki stared – and roared with laughter. Tears streamed down his face, and he clutched his sides, all composure lost. When he managed to control himself, he spluttered, "You – oh, you've got guts, alright! No wonder why he's so interested in you!"

Her face flushed scarlet. "What makes you think he's... interested in me?"

Hiroaki was still chuckling to himself when he leaned towards her and said, "Other than the content of that letter, what makes you think you'd be here right now if he _wasn't_ interested in you?"

Curiosity overwhelmed her. "What did he say in that stupid letter, anyway?!"

There was a mischievous glint in Hiroaki's eyes. "That he owes his life to you, my dear girl, and that he would slit my throat in my sleep if I refused you and your family."

Tokio raised her eyebrows in surprise. "So you let us stay out of fear that your own brother would kill you?"

Hiroaki laughed, "No, no! I let you stay partly because my brother owes you a favor. I will admit that it is also partly because I feel that I, too, am indebted to you. As recluse and aloof as Hajime is, he's still my brother and I haven't heard from in him four years. When you came here, I finally knew for certain that he was alive and well. For that, the Yamaguchi family truly owes you a great deal of thanks."

Tokio hadn't thought of it that way. How must Saito's sister, Katsu, and his parents feel about him running off? Disappearing without so much as a goodbye, never to be heard from again... Did they believe he was dead? How did they imagine Saito would be right now? A rich merchant, a beggar, a vagabond in the slums of Shanghai? _How awful must it be,_ shewondered,_ to not know where your child or sibling is and to not hear from him for years... _When she repeated this thought aloud, Hiroaki shrugged. "It's awful for the family, of course. A son to be proud of simply disappearing out of the blue... it was hard on my parents. But I think Katsu suffered the most. See, she made him promise to be the godfather of her daughter, whom she was pregnant with at the time. When Hajime left so suddenly..." For a moment, Hiroaki looked distant and downcast. Then he continued, "I assure you, though, his self-imposed exile was no curse to him. On the contrary, he was looking for a way to get away from Edo already. He didn't plan on running away from home or anything, but I'm certain he had no regrets in escaping his dull life."

Tokio mulled this over while Yukari called from the other side of the door, "Gensai-san and Yui-san are waking up, so please prepare their baths."

"Coming," Hiroaki called. Then he stood up and grinned, "So, Tokio-san, you begin work today." He opened the door and said to his wife, "Please get uniforms for Numazawa-san and Tokio-san."

Yukari smiled her dazzling smile. "Just a moment."

And so, Tokio and Michiko were given dark green kimonos with white aprons for work. The two changed quickly, and by the time they were done, Mori and Kachiro woke up and shuffled into the inn. Hiroaki explained that Tokio and Michiko would be helping Yukari prepare food, serve the guests meals, and do laundry. Mori and Kachiro would cut firewood, sweep the porches, and scrub the floors with Hiroaki. Tami tilted her head and asked, "What should I do?"

Hiroaki smiled and stroked his chin. "Why don't you make friends with Yukiko? She's about your age. She'll show you to the stream and you can help her carry water."

Yukiko, who was stunning in her own way, did not resemble either of her parents. There was something in those copper-colored eyes of hers that made Tokio think of a wolf. The little girl was friendly, but because of those eyes, Tokio could not be around her for long. She quickly set out to do her work.

Cooking for twenty-three people – not counting the Yamaguchis or Tokio's family – was no easy task. When Tokio asked why the inn was so full, Yukari explained that many came as overflow for the Gion Festival, but the majority were in Wakasa for the fishing season. Two of them were just people on their way out of Kyoto due to the fighting. But only that morning did news spread of the arrest of the Choshu leaders at the Ikeda-ya. When Tokio heard one of the men reading the article aloud from the paper to Yukari, Tokio felt the urge to be sick and quickly left the room.

The rest of the day passed without a hitch. Tokio was pleasantly exhausted when she returned to the Yamaguchi home that night, as was everyone else. A week of her new, busy lifestyle passed before she heard anything startling in the news.

Yukari was holding the paper in one hand, shaking her head in disgust as she stirred the boiling rice. "Thank goodness for the Shinsengumi, eh, Michiko-san?"

Michiko looked up at Yukari in surprise. Tokio pretended not to hear and set out to gather ingredients around the kitchen for breakfast. "What about them?" Michiko asked curiously.

"Listen to this," Yukari said, and proceeded to read aloud from the paper. "_Eight days ago, the __Shinsengumi of Mibu arrested twenty-three of the thirty-two Choshu Imperialist leaders at a secret conference in the Ikeda-ya. The remaining eight were silenced due to their lack of cooperation with the police. This act was carried out due to information leaked to Hijikata Toshizo, vice commander of the Shinsengumi, stating that the Imperialists planned to start a massive fire in central Kyoto. Had it not been for the prompt, effective raid on the Ikeda-ya, Kyoto may have been engulfed in flames that night. The Shinsengumi is already receiving a large number of new recruits due to this incident..._ Tokio-san – TOKIO-SAN! You're burning the mackerel!"

Tokio stared. Burning what? She looked down and saw the strips of fish starting to char. She yelped, quickly tossing the fish into bowls to keep them from turning into hunks of charcoal. Michiko shook her head with a small frown. "Oh, Tokio-chan... what am I going to do with you..."

Yukari looked concerned. "Are you feeling alright? You look flushed."

"Yes – No, I mean, no... I, um... Please excuse me," she spluttered.

Quickly, she got up and hurried out of the room. She had to get away from them. She couldn't let them see how badly she was shaking. The words Yukari spoke were spinning through her mind.

The Choshu leaders were plotting to set fire to Kyoto all along. _That_ was why Saito had Okita tell her to leave. If the leaders were not apprehended, there was no way to ascertain that Tokio would be safe, because the fires might have spread to her own house. And just as bad, the chaos that would ensue due to the growing rift between the Imperialists and the Loyalists would expand even further that night whether the plan to set fire to Kyoto came to pass or not.

The Choshu party was insane. How would setting fire to Kyoto help them reach their goals? Not even the extremists could say that there was any rational thought behind that plan. The only possible way to ensure Kyoto's safety was to arrest the leaders at all costs. It was what the Shinsengumi did. And although the sudden action shocked the citizens, it had to be done.

And Saito...

Saito. He was an officer as well. He was one of the men who detained the leaders, possibly killing some of them as well. He had killed them... But he didn't kill them in cold blood. He did it to keep law and order. He did it to protect Kyoto.

Tokio was conflicted. On one hand, Saito protected the city. On the other, he killed people. _Killed_ them. She had never thought about it before, really, but what became of the men Saito killed before? Did they have wives, siblings, parents, children? Did they have jobs and lives and homes? She always considered those people who died to be ones killed simply because they were on the opposing side. But then, Tokio thought of her father. Takagi Kojuro had children, and a decent job, and a quiet home... He didn't have the best or easiest life, but it was a comfortable life he shared with his three children. Did Kojuro's killer know that when he killed her father? Or did he see Kojuro only as opposition? Tokio would have wanted to scream at his killer, to tell this misinformed man that Kojuro was much more than some member of the special police. He was a provider and a caretaker and a father. He was _her_ father. It made her wonder... were there widows and orphans and parents who wanted to say such things to Saito, who took the lives of their fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons?

She didn't understand. She didn't know what to think anymore. Why was this so complicated? Why couldn't things be clear and linear and simple? Why was there so much gray area between the black and white? How could she forgive Saito when he had robbed so many families of their brave sons? And yet, how could she be angry with him for something that he did to protect Kyoto? To protect her?

Nothing made sense. All she knew was that thinking of Saito, trying to figure out if he was the 'good guy' or the 'bad guy,' was driving her mad.

For days, Tokio was too wrapped up in her own conflicting thoughts to pay attention to much else going on around her. Thankfully, everyone quickly fell into routine, so she did not have to struggle to pay attention to what was going on around her all the time, and she was free to be absorbed by her own thoughts.

Soon enough, Hiroaki, Yukari, and Yukiko were as close to her as the rest of her family. Kachiro abandoned his antipathy for Tokio and mellowed out once again as he, too, started to enjoy their new life. Sometimes, Tokio found herself thinking wistfully of Kyoto. Was her home still standing? How were her friends doing? But of course, more than anything, she thought about Saito.

The more she thought, the less sense her thoughts seemed to make. After a while, whenever she pictured Saito killing, the image didn't bother her. Was she just getting used to such morbid thoughts? That couldn't have been healthy. Then again, maybe she was just not right in the head after witnessing so much bloodshed. Maybe being calm in the face of death was a side effect of trying to get close to a murderer... Again and again, she wrestled with the term she'd tacked on to him.

Time passed. Days turned into weeks, and then, a month passed. Despite her preoccupation with Saito, Tokio felt at peace, truly at peace, for the first time since her father's death. Living with the Yamaguchi family was like a dream come true. Tokio enjoyed her work and the time she spent with her family. And she was growing to love Hiroaki's family, too. She no longer had to worry about cooking meals all by herself or being Tami's sole caretaker and playmate. She didn't have to be the decision maker or the unwilling leader anymore. There was something so comforting about letting someone else take over for once. She was happy.

Business was slowing down. Now the inn had fifteen guests. Yukari and Tokio took a break together while Michiko tended to the food, insisting that she could handle it herself as the influx of guests decreased. The two sat on the porch together, calmly observing the affairs of the Wakasa residents. Or at least, that's what Yukari was doing. Tokio was staring at the older woman's shimmering ebony locks. Tokio still glowed green with envy whenever Yukari's beauty was amplified in the simplest of ways.

"Yukari-san," Tokio murmured, "how do you make your hair look so good? It's always so pretty..."

Yukari chuckled and looked over at her younger companion. "My hair? Why the sudden interest?"

Tokio sighed, "I'm so jealous of you! You're beautiful, and you don't even have to try! It's not just your hair, either. It's... well, everything."

Yukari laughed. "Thank you, Tokio-chan, but I don't just wake up and look good. I have to put some effort into my appearance."

Pouting, Tokio scoffed, "You do too look perfect just waking up. And besides, even if I bothered trying to look nice, I'd never look even half as good as you do."

She felt childish, but Tokio was too wistful to care. How unfair it was that Yukari should be so stunning when Tokio felt so average! Nevertheless, this made Yukari smile. "Well, what do you say to this – how about I doll you up today? I'll do your hair and make-up, and you can wear one of my yukata if you'd like."

Tokio stared in shock. She blushed and gasped, "Really? You'd do that?"

Yukari laughed. "Of course! Come on, I'll start now."

The two went back to the bedroom where Yukari sat Tokio down. She pulled the worn, dirty band out of Tokio's hair and pulled a comb through the brown tangles. Tokio flushed with embarrassment whenever the comb's teeth snagged a particularly tough clump of tangles. Yukari would tug gently at the unruly tangles and thread her fingers through them – and they would be gone. It was as if Yukari was working magic. Tokio watched her transformation in the mirror. Her hair obeyed Yukari's firm hand and stayed in its snug ponytail. Tokio's eyes seemed wider, and even mysterious, thanks to a small helping of dark eye make up. Her lips were painted a pale pink, like the color of sakura petals. Tokio asked why she couldn't try the strawberry red that Yukari loved. She explained with a smile that such a dark shade was far too mature for such a young girl. But, then Yukari showed Tokio to her chest of clothes which held four beautiful yukata. Tokio stared at them in awe, not wanting to touch the fabric out of fear that she would stain them somehow. As the older woman shifted aside several other kimonos to reach the one Tokio liked best, Tokio asked how Yukari could afford to own so many beautiful clothes.

Yukari explained. "All of the women in my family are seamstresses. But, I was the only girl born, so my aunts and grandmother left all of them to me."

Tokio bit her lower lip as Yukari handed her the yukata. It was a soft blue with swirling white petals decorating it. It was so pretty, it looked like it belonged on a porcelain doll. Yukari gave her a warm smile and gently pushed Tokio around the other side of the privacy curtain so she could change. She did so, and shuffled out awkwardly to present herself to Yukari.

"How is it?" she asked timidly.

Yukari's face was alight with joy. "You look lovely!"

Yukari was eager to show Tokio off to the others. When they walked outside, Mori and Kachiro were the first they encountered. Mori was chopping wood and Kachiro was stacking it beside the inn. Mori paused mid-swing and did a double take to stare. "Ane-san? You actually look like a girl!"

Tokio stuck her tongue out at her brother. "Oh, shut up."

"Doesn't she look wonderful?" Yukari bragged airily. "You're like my little unpolished diamond!"

Tokio blushed at the remark, unsure whether or not Yukari was making fun of her. Mori smirked, "When she looks like hell, she can knock out street brawlers, but throw a little make up on her and my sister turns into a shrinking violet."

"Shut up!" she retorted, "We'll see who the shrinking violet is when I'm through with you--"

"Tokio-chan," Kachiro said gently, "you don't have to ruin that nice kimono beating up a sweaty pig like Mori. I'll handle it."

"Hey!" Mori frowned. Tokio laughed.

Yukari insisted, "Come on, Hiroaki will be thrilled to see you."

Tokio still felt slightly awkward in the unfamiliar clothes and shoes. She was a stranger to this outfit, but it felt nice to pretend for a little while that she was just as graceful and glowing as Yukari herself.

They found Hiroaki in the hall in deep conversation with one of the inn's patrons. He looked pale. The patron saw the two approaching, and he quickly stopped talking. He turned and walked away. Hiroaki's brow furrowed; then he noticed his wife's arrival. His look of discontent erased any of Yukari's earlier plans to show off her younger companion. She touched her husband's hand gently and asked, "What's wrong?"

"They're sending soldiers. An army of twenty thousand."

Tokio stared, aghast. Twenty thousand soldiers? There was no need to ask whom the army fought for; only the Shogunate could rally an army of that size. Yukari's eyes widened. "Sending soldiers – sending them _here?_" she whispered.

"To Kyoto," he replied gravely. "They'll be arriving any time now. Choshu doesn't stand a chance."

Tokio knew this day would come, the day the Imperialists tried to avenge the arrest of their leaders at the Ikeda-ya. There had been rumors for days that they were rallying their own forces to attack the Shogunate; but the Choshu army of a mere five thousand stood no chance against the Shogunate's forces. There would be no battle. This would be a massacre. Kyoto would be center stage.

So this was the madness Okita spoke of. This was the madness Saito wanted to protect her from.

They were not alone anymore. Mori was standing a few feet away, but judging by the horror-stricken look on his face, he heard everything Hiroaki said. Tokio did not know what to say to him. What _could_ she say? Yukari and Hiroaki both watched as Mori turned around and walked in the opposite direction. Tokio, worried, followed him.

They walked outside. Mori paused his rigid stride and kicked the bucket sitting beside the well and sent it and its contents flying with a snarl of frustration. He threaded his hands through his hair anxiously and started to pace.

"Mori, what's wrong with--" she started.

"What's wrong?" he snapped, his voice taking on a sharp, almost crazed tone, "What _isn't_ wrong?! The Imperialists and the Loyalists are going to have a bloodbath in our city! Is there something about it that seems _right_ to you?!"

She frowned. "Of course not. But we can't do anything about it now. What's going to happen will happen, and breaking water buckets won't change that!"

Mori said nothing for a several minutes. He just continued to pace like a caged animal seeking escape. Then, he paused for a short moment. "Someone needs to help them."

She stared at him in confusion. "Help who? The Imperialists, or the Loyalists?"

The harsh, loud sound that emanated from his mouth could hardly be called a laugh, but that was what it seemed closest to. "They don't need help! They can kill each other for all I care. It's not them who need protecting. It's the people. They're the ones hurting the most."

Tokio knew her brother was right. It was true that it was the citizens who were affected the most. This was not right. With such large numbers fighting, the police and even the Shinsengumi would have a difficult time keeping order. No matter which side won, the innocent bystanders would be the ones who had to witness the savagery of war.

Mori was breathless as he muttered, "They need a protector."

At those words, Tokio's blood froze. She was terrified. _The people need a protector _– those were Kojuro's last words to his children. It was the last thing he said to them before he turned away and joined the chaos of the war. And now, she attributed those words to his death.

Mori was always a hothead, feeling no need to hide or suppress his strong sense of pride and duty. But, he never expressed any interest in taking part in the war. Sometimes Tokio wondered if he was even aware the war was even going on. Until the moment he spoke with such devotion, she did not think she would ever have to worry about him leaving like her father.

At one point in her life, Mori's selfless feelings might have made her proud. Now, she was horrified. These ideals would only lead to his demise. She could not let this happen.

"Mori," she said, trying to sound firm even though she was shaking, "you're right. They do need protection. But they don't need some amateur coming in and making and even bigger mess out of things. One person can't save the entire city alone."

Mori scuffed his foot on the ground, still sounding breathlessly dreamy. "Maybe not. But if people never tried the impossible, this world would never advance. Risks have to be taken"

She couldn't take it anymore. She stormed over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders. His eyes were bright with the promise of glory and triumph. Tokio forced him to look her in the eyes. "Promise me – promise me right now that you won't go."

He shook his head. "I can't do that."

"Morinosuke!" she demanded, giving him a shake.

He paused, staring past her. He closed his eyes slowly, inhaled deeply, and said, "I promise."

She was far from satisfied, but was confident that Mori would keep his word. When they returned inside, Mori muttered about having work to finish. Michiko and Yukari were busily discussing the soon-to-be battle in the kitchen. When Tokio entered, Yukari had her put on just an apron to protect the yukata so Tokio would not have to change again. As Tokio stirred the miso soup, she listened to Michiko and Yukari talking softly.

"It's a good thing you all got out of Kyoto early," Yukari said, shaking her head slowly.

Michiko nodded, scooping rice into bowls. Tokio's aunt had been more than a little perplexed as to how, exactly, she ended up in Wakasa with her family. Yukari and Hiroaki affirmed that Hiroaki's brother was the reason why they were allowed to stay, but refused to elaborate. Who his brother was and how he came to know Tokio were not disclosed to the rest of the family. His lack of identity worried Michiko almost enough so that she did not agree to stay with the Yamaguchis. If she had anywhere else to go, she would have tried her hardest to drag her family to another location. But, the Yamaguchis had grown on her, and she no longer suspected them of being involved in anything shady.

After the guests ate lunch, Tokio and Yukari served themselves and the rest of their families. Tokio checked Tami's hands to see if they were clean before she sat down to eat. When she gave her younger sister her approval, Tami happily ran off to eat her lunch. Kachiro wiped sweat from his brow, landing on his cushion heavily. "Can you bring me some water?" he asked.

Tokio nodded and scurried off to get it. When she returned, she handed it to Kachiro and asked curiously, "Where is Mori? He's usually the first one in when he smells food."

Kachiro shrugged while he gulped down the water. "Dunno. I was about to ask you the same thing."

She threw him a suspicious look. "Weren't you doing chores with him all day?"

He shook his head. "No. He told me he was going to start scrubbing the floors without me, so I finished chopping, came in to see if he needed my help, and found out he hadn't even done it yet."

She stared at him, her confusion turning to understanding... her understanding turning to fear. Frantic, she looked to the others. "Have any of you seen Mori within the last hour or so?"

Each slowly shook their heads, no one recalling having seen him after he spoke to Kachiro. _No, no, no, no_, she thought frantically.

She burst into the room he shared with Kachiro and Hiroaki without bothering to knock. It would not have mattered; the room was empty, as she knew it would be. The room looked normal enough at first glance, but there was one thing she had to check to be sure...

She opened the wardrobe in which he and Kachiro kept their most prized belongings. However, the most ostentatious of these was no where to be found. Tokio felt herself going weak-kneed when the impact of what was happening hit home.

Mori took his father's sword. He was going to Kyoto.


	4. Kyoto Again

_A/N: _So, to compensate for the utter lack of excitement in the last chapter, this one is just chock full o' action (sort of) – and even better yet, Saitō actually makes an appearance :D Yahoo!

I've also realized that jamming out to the Rurouni Kenshin OST helps in developing the plot for this story xD

Thank you once again to everyone reading and reviewing!!

_Warning:_ Blood, war, death, sensitive topics, some coarse language.

_Disclaimer:_ _Rurouni Kenshin_ _© Nobuhiro Watsuki. __Heart of the Wolf__ © KaibaKitty._

Tokio did not wait. She ran into the kitchen to tell them what happened, but Kachiro nor Hiroaki could stop her fast enough. She would never know how she physically managed; all she knew was that, while she ran to Kyoto, she was mind over body already.

She could see the fires before she even entered the city. People were screaming and running every which way. Police officers tried to keep order, but they could do nothing to keep the chaos at bay. Tokio was not stopped or questioned when she ran into the city. No one bothered to notice the one civilian running in the wrong direction. Tokio was ready to collapse from sheer exhaustion. It had taken her hours to get to Kyoto; even though it was night, the battles remained relentless. Corpses were piling up in the streets. Broken pieces of armor, abandoned swords, shattered glass, and splotches of blood lined the streets. Piles of burning debris were scattered where severed limbs and grotesquely disfigured bodies did not litter the ground. Everywhere she looked, places she once recognized as houses and shops turned into fodder for the flames. She saw some men fighting, some dying, some being slaughtered, some yelling victory cries... But no where amidst the fires and fights did she see her brother.

Tokio screamed for him as loud as her sore lungs would allow. She screamed until her throat was raw and even the air moving past it hurt. He didn't respond to her calls, not once. It was pointless to call for him when he might be too far away to hear... but she called him anyway. She had nothing else to do but look and yell and pray for him to respond.

It was then that she saw the body. A boy with untidy hair and a green kimono lay in the wreckage of what was once a house. Tokio knew that her legs did not carry her there by mistake; it was _her_ house. Or at least, it was her house before it, too, was set aflame. And the boy in the rubble was not just any other boy. Trembling, her body feeling numb, she approached the boy. Tokio dropped to her knees by his side. Only then did she notice that he was sobbing.

Tears carved twin rivers down his ash-smeared cheeks. The side of his face was slashed, a gash starting under his right eye and curving down to his neck just below his ear. He was covered in blood, and she assumed most of it was his. The front of his kimono was torn open. A perfect diagonal sliced down his chest, his stomach, his hip... It was bleeding profusely despite his desperate attempts to stem the flow of blood with his dirty palms. She brushed his hair away from his face, and murmured in a faraway voice, "Mori..."

He looked up at her, his eyes wide with horror. Mori spoke as if he was being strangled. "T... tk... i..."

She shook her head, gathering him into her arms. She cradled his head and stared down at him. She felt so empty... So lost...

"Mori... Don't talk..."

He gave a jerky shake of his head. He opened his mouth to speak again, but coughed. It was so violent that it caused him even more pain; he arched up off the ground, his hands scrambling over the wound on his chest.

"Tk... Toki... o... hurts... really _hurts_...." he groaned.

She was at a loss. She'd treated wounds before. She watched her aunt fix up people like this before. But this was nothing like anything she'd ever experienced. This was Mori, her brother. He was laying in a puddle of his own blood and dirt, slashed and bleeding and dying. He was dying.

But somehow, it didn't feel real. She could hear his screams of agony, see his tear-streaked face contorted in pain, feel the warm blood flowing over her hands... But she could do nothing. She had no supplies, no where to get medical equipment, nothing to take off the edge of the pain... Never did she feel so hopeless, so useless, as she did the moment she realized her brother was dying and there was nothing she could do about it.

She stroked his face and told him, "It's going to be okay. You'll be okay."

She looked around. There was no one. Not even a stray cat. They were alone, all alone. The fires burning all around them made it feel a hundred degrees hotter. Ash and dirt were sticking in the crevices of Mori's wounds. Tokio wanted to wash it away to decrease the risk of infection, but at the very least it seemed to be helping to clot his blood. Then, she realized that Mori wasn't bleeding much anymore. His breathing was shallower, his cries silenced altogether. He no longer thrashed and grabbed at his wound as if trying to force the rent flesh together again. It was as if he was finally drained...

"Mori?"

He looked up at her, his voice detached and whispery. "So stupid... never should... have come..."

She was not sure if he was referring to himself or to her. Nevertheless, she insisted, "Don't talk. Someone will come and help..."

Mori did not seem to hear her, but more tears were leaking down his face. "I'm... so useless..."

"Stop that."

"Can't even k... keep you safe..."

"That's enough. Save your energy."

He looked into her eyes, but his were oddly blank and expressionless. He was staring through her. "It... it hurts, anego..."

And then, his eyelids began to close. His tense muscles relaxed. She stared at him uncomprehendingly. It was happening so fast... How did it all happen so fast? She brushed his sticky bangs from his face and asked quietly, "Mori?"

But he did not respond. Tokio felt his skin. It felt so cold, too cold for a man surrounded by raging fires. Her lower lip was trembling and her throat was tight. _No_, she told herself again. _No..._

"Onii... chan?" she murmured.

It was the first time she'd ever addressed him as her older brother, the first time she'd ever called him anything but his name.

She couldn't breathe. Tokio nearly gagged on the words when she tried to call out to him again. But she knew with chilling finality that he would not respond. Then she began heaving. The tears would not come, but her lungs were rapidly expelling air and barely allowed her to draw breath.

She pulled him to her closer, cradling his maimed body in her arms, and she screamed. "This isn't happening!" It had to be a dream. An illusion. A hallucination. There was no conceivable way this was happening to Mori.

Then someone hooked their arms under hers, prying her hands from her brother's body. "Let me go!" She thrashed against the much stronger person dragging her away.

"Tokio – stop it, there's nothing you can do--" It was Kachiro's voice.

"Don't say that!"

"It's over. It's over."

She finally pulled away from him, shaking and unsteady on her own two feet. Then she grabbed the front of her cousin's kimono and stared up at him with her wide, desperate eyes. "He's still breathing – take him to Michiko," she begged. "She'll know what to do."

Kachiro looked like he was about to argue, but he shook his head sadly and gazed at Mori. "... Alright. I will," he promised.

Then he looked behind himself suddenly. "Tami?" he called. "Tami, where are you?"

Tokio stared at Kachiro like he was out of his mind. "You brought _Tami_ here?!"

Kachiro insisted, "No! She followed me, and I didn't know until I was halfway here. I couldn't send her back alone, but I had to find you and Mori."

Rather than berate him, she declared, "I'll find Tami. You take Mori to Michiko."

She turned and began to flat-out sprint. But, she was exhausted and her body was feeling it. She hadn't gone far before she had to stop and catch her breath. Tokio couldn't help but to be amazed that her sister disappeared so fast. How far could a tired seven-year-old possibly go?

That was when she saw him.

She didn't see him in any armor or uniform, so she guessed he was an Imperialist. She quickly hid behind what remained of a house wall. From there, she peered out at the man. He was young from what she could see, maybe about her age, and wore a dark kimono. His hair was long, red, and held in a high ponytail. A single long, vertical scar carved down his left cheek.

Then, the young man stopped. He looked over in her direction as if he knew exactly where she was. She gulped. Was he psychic, or could he possibly hear her heart hammering away in her chest?

A second man appeared immediately after the first. The second was a far more familiar face. Even though he was covered in scarlet splatters just like the last time they met, the expression he wore this time was much different. Saitō did not look cocky in victory as he did leaving the Ikeda-ya. He looked perplexed, on edge... What could have possibly made him look this way? The Loyalists were winning. He should have been ecstatic. And yet... he was not.

The redhead stood his ground and called, "Duel me."

Saitō scoffed, turning to walk away. "Don't make me laugh. This battle's over."

Tokio wasn't exactly sure what happened at first. One moment, the redheaded swordsman was standing there. The next, he was gone – and he reappeared in front of Saitō. He stopped mid-step and glowered at the boy. He was _fast_. Saitō paused and muttered, "I've seen you in the city before."

The redhead snapped, "The Shinsengumi are the greatest threat to the Imperialists' success. I can't let you pass."

Saitō raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Judging by your appearance... you must be the Chōshū assassin I've been hearing about."

The young man said nothing. He glared at Saitō unblinkingly, and crouched into a vaguely familiar stance. He kept his sword sheathed, his hand hovering over the grip without drawing. Saitō studied him for a moment and said with certainty, "So you _are_ the Battōsai."

Tokio realized the stance was battōjutsu, a sword drawing technique. To have a battle name like 'Battōsai,' he must have truly been a master of battōjutsu. Saitō did not look bothered by this. Instead, he drew his sword, scowling, "I don't have time for this, so you'd better hurry up and die quickly."

Something was wrong. Since when was Saitō this distracted in battle? She'd known him to be arrogant and focused when it came to a fight, and never did he sound so reluctant to duel someone. She watched him take down numerous opponents alone, relishing the thrill of a one-sided fight. There was something strange going on, and she wanted desperately to know what it was.

Saitō made the first move. He slashed with his katana, which was sure to be a lethal attack. Battōsai drew his sword – though the movement was so fast Tokio did not notice until the two blades clashed. Fluidly, the redhead unsheathed his wakizashi with his left hand, swiping parallel to the path his katana made. Saitō saw what was happening before the wakizashi was unsheathed because of the way Battōsai's left hand was positioned, and mimicked him by drawing his wakizashi as well to meet his opponent's.

Battōsai pushed himself backwards. The redhead was clearly fast and powerful, but he was far smaller in stature than Saitō, who had a weight advantage. He would not be beaten because of their difference in size, however; Battōsai leaped with renewed vigor, slashing down with murderous intent. Saitō would not be beaten, either, because if their differences in speed. He swung upwards towards the Battōsai. It appeared, for a moment, that Saitō had made contact, just as it seemed the Battōsai's hit landed when he struck at Saitō. But neither showed any signs of injury when the Battōsai landed elegantly on the ground.

Saitō was snarling when he pulled left arm back, aiming at his enemy. The thrust he made was so swift, so powerful, that the Battōsai was too shocked to dodge properly. Saitō's sword grazed his shoulder.

He glared at Battōsai and growled, "Next time, I won't miss."

The fight had not gone on long, but it felt so wrong. Saitō wiped out his opponents with ease. Yet this young man, the assassin called Battōsai, was not like any of the wolf's other opponents.

As the fight carried on, Tokio lost herself in thought. The wolf versus the hitokiri. The wolf who ignited that spark inside of her... The wolf who terrified her... The wolf who saved her...

She could not see him losing, but she still was not satisfied. Saitō was a superb swordsman, though Battōsai was as well. Tokio was shocked when she realized that she was _worried_ about Saitō.

A few weeks ago, she never would have felt this way and been firmly convinced that the victor did not matter because they were both just killers anyway. But in light of everything she'd learned about Saitō since the Ikeda-ya Affair, she just couldn't think that way anymore.

Something else distracted her. Several yards away, a figure stumbled. Tokio did a double take, unable to believe her eyes. It was Tami! Tokio felt like a complete idiot. Here she was, watching this fight, when her little sister was lost among fighting samurai and burning buildings! How could she have gotten so sidetracked? She stood up, forgetting the fight, and called, "Tami!"

Whether it was due to the fight, the distance, or the fire, Tami did not hear Tokio. Saitō and Battōsai on the other hand heard her clearly. Both stopped immediately and looked in her direction. Battōsai did not look surprised to see her, and neither did Saitō. At least, until he saw her face. He stared, bewildered and slightly angry. "_Tokio?_" he muttered incredulously. Battōsai threw Saitō a sideways glance and asked, "You know her?"

The redhead did not get an answer to this question. He was interrupted by a shrill scream. The hair on the back of Tokio's neck rose at the sound. Tokio, Saitō, and Battōsai looked for the source of the noise.

Men on horseback arrived, seeming disinterested in the samurai. One of them had dismounted and grabbed Tami by the scruff of her neck. "Heh," he mused, "this is a pretty one."

"It'll fetch a decent price," another agreed. "Take it and hurry up!"

Tokio did not understand. The man holding her sister tossed her over the side of his horse with her hands bound. He jumped up on the saddle as well, galloping off down the road. Tami struggled up, looking back desperately for some sort of help. It was the mountain striped haori that she noticed first.

"_Ookami anikiiii!_"

It all happened so fast. Battōsai ran after them, but even he could not keep up with the horses.

Tokio couldn't believe what she was seeing. First, Mori was dying, now Tami had been kidnapped... "_TAMI!_" she screamed, but to no avail.

Something inside of Saitō snapped. Anger like none he'd ever felt before flared inside of his chest. Never did he ever feel such an intense desire to _kill._ Whether it was Tami calling him 'big brother wolf' or Tokio's agonized cry, he didn't know. What he did know was that he wanted revenge. His clenched hands were shaking with fury. He had to go after the kidnappers. He had to kill them, save Tami, reunite her with Tokio.

He wondered vaguely why he wanted to see them impaled on his blade so badly. He'd seen slavers and traffickers before. These should have been no different... But they were. They took Tami. Tami was Tokio's sister. And Tokio, inexplicably, meant more to him than she should have. Seeing her so tormented was awful. The only way to make her happy again was to kill the bastards that were causing her so much pain. He looked down at her, the girl whom he never should have met, the girl whom he'd be oddly empty without, and knew with certainty that he couldn't let her suffer like this.

Tokio started to run after the men on horseback, but she was too exhausted. Her body couldn't take it anymore. She fell to her knees before she'd gone more than a few steps. She was gasping raggedly for air, but she couldn't get enough of it. Her limbs felt like lead, and no matter how hard she struggled to get to her feet, she just couldn't do it.

If only she could turn back time, keep Mori close so he wouldn't run off and do anything stupid... If she watched him more closely, convinced him that it wasn't worth the risk... But it was too late. Mori was hemorrhaging in a pile of debris while Tami was carted off by strange men right before her eyes. Everything was falling apart. She didn't know where to go next. She had to find Tami, heal Mori, help Michiko... Not even her house was standing anymore. Her entire world had been thrown into a state of upheaval, and there was nothing she could do to stop the madness.

Then, he crouched in front of her. She looked slowly, the fear she harbored not completely absolved. He asked, "Can you walk?"

Tokio shook her head, surprised she had the energy for even that. Saitō turned around, still crouching. He commanded, "Get on my back."

She didn't have the strength to argue or question him. Weakly, she reached towards him, slipping her hands over his broad shoulders. Tokio could do no more than that. He pulled her closer by her wrists so she was snugly pressed against his warm, strong back, and hooked his arms under her legs. She felt childish. There was something subtly gentle about the way he pulled her closer and carried her. He ran at an even pace, barely jostling her.

They soon caught up with Battōsai, who was standing at the end of the road leading out of Kyoto. He looked murderous. Saitō demanded, "Which way did they go?"

He pointed to the east. "Towards Shiga."

"They must be slavers. The abandoned village near Shiga has been raided for captured women before."

Battōsai looked from Saitō to the girl on his back. "I don't know what your business with them is, but... I won't kill you yet."

Saitō muttered, "We'll finish our duel another day."

And so, he ran. Tokio didn't know how long or how far. All she knew was that she found an infinitesimal amount of comfort with him, and that shred of relief was all that was keeping her sane. Without him there, without his warm hands and even breathing and strong shoulders, she would be lost.

It was cold and too dark for her eyes to see, but Saitō was still going. How did one man have such energy? He had no doubt been fighting during the battle in Kyoto, and he must have worn himself out at least a little bit from the fight with Battōsai. He ran for hours with a full-grown girl on his back, and yet he never showed any signs of tiredness. What was driving him on? She didn't know, and she was too tired to think about it.

Finally, he stopped. It was then that she noticed how heavily he was panting. He was covered in sweat and his body felt ten times hotter than the air around them. Tokio wearily opened her eyes a fraction of an inch to look around. She still could not see clearly. There was some faint light from above from stars and the waxing moon which allowed her to make out the forest surrounding them. He eased her onto the ground and leaned her back against a sturdy tree. Gasping for breath, he dropped to sit a few inches from her.

Tokio looked over at him, wanting to speak, but unable to muster the energy to do so. He felt her eyes on him and turned his head towards the girl. Those glowing yellow orbs sent a slight shiver down her spine though she did not feel afraid. He said nothing to her. He was too tired, just like her. She did not even bother trying to get into a comfortable position against the tree trunk; her eyelids drooped until they closed and her exhausted body drowned her in the cool darkness of sleep.


	5. By the River

_A/N: _Merry Christmas, all! And to those who don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Friday! My Christmas gift (or just a gift in general) to you all is a double update! WOOHOO!

Hope you all enjoy!

_Warnings:_ It's got some saucy bits. -is shot for actually using the word saucy- Don't like, don't read xD Also, I think there's a teensy weensy bit of OOCness at the end. (Complain about it if you must x.X; )

_Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin © Nobuhiro Watsuki. Heart of the Wolf © KaibaKitty._

_This is turning into the worst week of my life,_ Tokio thought. It trumped any other awful time in her life; nothing else could even compare. Never did she feel so miserable, lost, and alone.

Saitō was quiet throughout most of their journey. They walked, and when Saitō was annoyed with their slow pace, he carried her and ran. Tokio felt like Saitō had something in common with the rest of her family: when he was furious with her, he did not express it in words.

Deep down, she had to grudgingly admit that Saitō's anger was not unfounded. She argued more stubbornly with him than she ever had with anyone else.

He was adamant that it was in Tokio's best interest – and his – if he searched for Tami alone. He would drop Tokio off at the Saba Ryokan and begin his search. It would be faster, easier, and more efficient. Tokio would be in less danger and Saitō would only have to focus on keeping one of the sisters safe. But Tokio would have none of this. When Saitō told her what he planned, she simply said, "No."

He quirked an eyebrow. "What?"

"I'm coming with you," she said, her voice hollow and flat.

"Don't be an idiot," he scowled.

But Tokio would not budge. There was a burning hatred inside deep inside of her, clawing at her insides and threatening to explode. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see Tami's terrified face as she was plucked off the ground and thrown over that horse like a saddlebag. And she could see the two men, the slavers, who took her away. They referred to Tami as 'it' like she was something inferior to them, an object that could be easily stolen, sold, or replaced. When she thought of their grinning faces appraising her little sister with their greedy eyes and grabbing her with their filthy hands... The hatred inside of her was so strong she could almost taste it.

What sort of depraved men took a little girl in the middle of that chaos? No, not even that – who kidnapped little girls at all? They had no respect whatsoever for human life; all they cared about was making a profit, or even using the girls they captured to fulfill their own selfish, disgusting desires... Just the thought of any man trying to touch Tami in such a way made the rage in her heart so much stronger. She wanted to find them herself and unleash her wrath upon them. Tokio was not the strongest person physically, but with these feelings of hatred and vengeance overflowing, she felt like she could take down anyone.

Still, there was a tiny voice of reason in her mind that said she didn't have a hope of finding the slavers and her sister before something worse happened. Even if she did find them, she would be unarmed, and who knows how many of them there would be. It was too risky to go charging in like a bull without a plan or a means of executing it.

But she had Saitō on her side.

Saitō was more than capable of taking on any opponent, she knew this from experience. He could take on anyone, and she was fortunate enough that he was willing to find Tami. She didn't know what his reasons were exactly for wanting to in the first place; however, she remembered a hazy image from the previous night. There was something in his features, something fierce. It lingered still whenever he looked her way. Tokio knew that with Saitō on her side, she could not lose, and Tami would be found and saved. However, Tokio did not refuse to sit idly at the inn because she wanted to be the first to comfort Tami after her ordeal. Certainly, that was a significant part of the reason. But there was something even stronger that drove her to take part in the search-and-rescue mission.

"I want to watch you tear those bastards limb from limb."

Saitō stared down at her. Her emotions, unlike his, were plainly displayed on her face. The anger, the pain, the thirst for revenge... He was not satisfied by her reasoning, but he did not refuse. So, they traveled on.

Their only lead as to where the slavers may have been was the village in Shiga. It would take them a few days to get there. That meant lots of angry silence, she realized. But it also gave her plenty of time to think.

Fury was still clouding her mind as she imagined how satisfying it would be to see the men slain. How sweet it would feel to know that they were being served justice for the crime of stealing Tami from her.

Tokio then realized with a great deal of shock how hypocritical she was. Did she not spend an entire month thinking of Saitō as a murderer? Yes, she believed him to be a heartless fiend because he killed the Choshu leaders. Even after she found out that he had done it to protect Kyoto, she still could not come to terms with the fact that he ended human lives in order to save others.

With a twang of guilt, she thought, _I really don't understand him at all... At times, I see him as a guardian, but the other times, he just seems like a vicious killer..._

It was time to decide once and for all: was Saitō a murderer, or a protector? She needed to decide.

It was sunset and they had been going since daybreak. Saitō would have preferred to move by night, but they had little choice as both were too exhausted to continue. As they settled down in a copse of trees off of the road, Tokio asked, "How did you feel when you killed the hatamoto's son?"

Saitō's eyes narrowed at the question. He looked off into the distance and muttered, "Sounds like Hiroaki has been gossiping about me like an old woman."

"I asked him to tell me more about you," she shrugged.

This time he looked at her. "Why?"

She did not answer. After a few moments, Saitō realized she had no intention of responding, so he stared off again. Tokio didn't think he was actually going to reply, either, but after a pause, he said, "It's not a feeling that can be easily explained like 'sorrow' or 'fear.' It wasn't something that simple."

She quietly asked, "Were you afraid when you killed him?"

"No," he said. "I don't know what Hiroaki told you, but I didn't even tell him everything... I knew him well before our fight."

Tokio raised her eyebrows. "Was he a friend of yours?"

At this, he chuckled. "The opposite – we hated each other. He flaunted his inherited wealth and used his influence to intimidate anyone of a lower class. And he was a lust-driven pig. When hitting the whorehouse several times a night wasn't enough, he'd go off drinking and try to find fresh blood. It was rare that any girl refused him, but if she did, he raped her because he felt like he could get away with anything without consequences."

Tokio was disgusted just hearing about him. She asked, "Are you sure he really raped them? They weren't just girls who felt ashamed afterwards?"

There was that look again, that flicker of fierce turmoil... He growled, "Yes. One of the girls was my sister."

She stared, taken aback. She remembered Hiroaki mentioning their sister Katsu, but Tokio had no idea that she was raped. Then, she wondered: did Hiroaki even know? If he did, he might not have told her anyway. After all, it was something very personal. But then again, maybe he didn't. Hiroaki knew how conflicted she felt about Saitō; he would have told her if Saitō had some other reason to fight the hatamoto's son.

"When Katsu told me what he'd done... I challenged him. He boasted about his skill in kenjutsu, but he was all talk. I took his katana before he could draw and killed him."

He did not need to elaborate. She knew the fight would have been quick and decisive. The opponent would not stand a chance against Saitō no matter the circumstance, and the man who raped Saitō's sister was no exception. "So... you killed him to avenge Katsu," she surmised.

Saitō frowned slightly. "What he did to her was the reason why I acted when I did. But I didn't kill him just because of that. I wanted justice for all of the lives he destroyed and the ones he could destroy in the future, not just Katsu. Even if he never touched my sister, it was only a matter of time before I took matters into my own hands."

Tokio was surprised. Saitō did not seem like the type to particularly care about the actions of a rapist. She always pictured him as a man who fought to preserve the era while taking out those who opposed it. Criminals like the hatamoto's son did not seem like the type that Saitō would waste his time on. But now it was clear that he did not overlook anyone with evil intentions. She remembered the night they met when he saved her. He said, _"No decent man should turn his back when a defenseless girl is about to be taken advantage of."_ Perhaps when he saved her, he was thinking of his sister and how he had been unable to protect her...

He spoke with such passion. It was unrivaled by anything other emotion she'd ever seen in him, unrivaled by the emotion of any man. No... No, it was not an emotion that he expressed. It was a creed. A creed of justice. Saitō was not a coldblooded killer. He enjoyed the thrill of a fight, but he also was a guardian of the people. It was his duty to keep Kyoto and her people safe, even if it was at the cost of the enemies' lives. Ensuring the safety of the civilians who could not protect themselves from the warring parties was his obligation, the obligation of all those in the Shinsengumi. He was a man who defended what he believed in – justice. For the common good, he had to do unpleasant things, like partake in murder. Tokio could not honestly say that Saitō detested his job because she knew from the gleam in his eyes that he was most exuberant in the heat of battle. But there was more to it than that. He fought without regrets or indecision; every move he made was sure and confident. This was not because he self-assured in his skill; rather, he knew what he was doing without having any qualms about whether it was right or wrong.

Tokio felt ashamed of herself for ever thinking of him as a mindless villain. Why couldn't she see it before? There was much more to him than she ever imagined.

"And now you're going after the slavers to make sure they can't ruin anyone else's lives," she concluded.

Saitō paused and glanced her way. He contemplated her, then said slowly, "No. I'm going after the slavers because they caused you to suffer."

Silence.

Tokio stared, abashed. Did he not just finish telling her that he killed his sister's rapist to prevent the suffering of other women? Now, Tami had been kidnapped; it was only logical to assume he wanted to track them down because they were black hearted people who needed to be stopped before they could cause others any more suffering. He should have been fighting for the greater good. But he was not. He was doing this for _her._

That night, Tokio slept fitfully. The third time she woke up, she saw that Saitō was up, too. It was still the middle of the night, but he suggested getting a head start since neither of them were able to sleep. He carried her again until she'd woken up enough to walk.

Their journey was quiet still, but it was no longer anger that kept them from speaking to each other. Saitō was not a man who enjoyed conversing with others much, and after revealing so much personal information about himself the previous night, he seemed to want to compensate for that by speaking as little as possible throughout the day. Tokio, on the other hand, was not talking because she had even more on her mind. To distract herself from all of the "what ifs" surrounding Tami, Tokio thought about Saitō. She wondered why he had chosen to tell her so much about himself and why he was fighting for her alone rather than for the common good. What was so different about the two situations: the rapist and the slavers? Both committed heinous crimes, but it was in the latter situation that Saitō was more personally involved in. If he was to be involved in either, Tokio would have assumed it was in the former. It made sense, as Katsu was his sister and she was a victim of the hatamoto's rapist son. But that was the situation in which he was more detached. He fought for the future of others who could have been victims and fought to avenge those who had already been destroyed. Why was it not the same in this case? Why wasn't he fighting for the justice of all those affected by the slavers' evil deeds? Why was he only fighting for her, for her justice?

It was mid-afternoon when her stomach started growling. She flushed when Saitō looked over at her curiously. How could she be hungry at a time like this? Tami was in danger, eating should have been the farthest thing from her mind!

"Let's stop for the day," Saitō said.

Tokio exclaimed, "What? But why?"

He muttered, "You look like you're going to collapse."

"I'm fine," she insisted, "Let's keep going--"

_Grrrowl._ She flushed even more deeply. Saitō smirked. "Your stomach and I say we stop. Looks like you've been outvoted."

There was nothing she could say to convince him otherwise, so they stopped. He paused, closed his eyes for a moment, and then nodded. He pulled a small box from his pocket and tossed it to her. "Make a fire," he said.

She quirked an eyebrow. "I'll pretend you said please – hey, wait, where are you going?"

He grabbed a tree branch and broke it off, inspecting the broken tip, and then started walking off. "I'll be back," he said.

She frowned. "Well, I certainly hope so!"

Saitō disappeared and she was left alone. Tokio sighed, then tied back her sleeves and opened the little box he'd thrown to her. It was a half-full of pine wood matches She cleared a place in the dirt, set up a circle of stones, and made a hut out of some small branches. She stuffed the driest ones in the middle and struck a match. She held it to the branches, but they didn't light. Frustrated, she struck another and threw it inside. Still nothing. A third match – and finally, it lit. Satisfied, she sat back and watched the little flames lick up the sides of the wood.

Then, Saitō appeared from the brush. Speared on the end of the branch he'd broken off from the tree earlier were two fish. Tokio's jaw fell open slightly.

"How the hell did you do that so fast?" she asked in amazement.

He just grinned slightly in reply. After spearing the fish on two separate branches, he started to walk off yet again. This time, Tokio did not even bother questioning him because she knew that he wouldn't give her a straight answer. She resolved to watch the fish as the slow-building fire cooked them. At the rate it was going, it would take a while. She sighed and watched, feeling bored. Rather than sitting there waiting for dinner to cook, they could be on the road and looking for Tami. But when Tokio looked at the fish, her stomach growled again. When was the last time she ate? _I didn't eat yesterday. And the day before that, I left to find Mori before I ate lunch. And I skipped breakfast that morning_... So, it had been almost a full three days. She felt even hungrier just thinking about it.

Minutes passed slowly, and Tokio felt herself anxiously awaiting Saitō's return. She was starting to worry. What was taking him so long? Was he alright? Did he forget about her? Was he ambushed by some unknown group or people or by wild, hungry animals? Tokio didn't know why she was worrying so much, but she was going out of her mind without him there. She couldn't just stay there not knowing.

She got up and quickly traced the path he'd taken. He went through the trees there, turned left there... After that, she had to guess. Then she noticed a noise: running water. It sounded like a river. Maybe he was at the river getting water? All of that running must have made him thirsty. It was her best guess, so she followed the sound.

When she got there, however, she was slightly confused. The first things she saw were his kimono and haori tossed over a branch. Then her eyes were drawn to the river itself. It was wide and clear with smooth rocks bordering it. However, there was one eye-catching figure in the middle. Saitō, stripped down, hair loose, was standing waist-deep in the river. Tokio's first instinct was to turn around and leave, and apologize too if he noticed her there. But she couldn't make herself move.

She'd seen him bare from the waist up when she had to heal his stab wound, but this was different. He was conscious and wet and bathing and unaware of her staring eyes. Her mouth, which had been too dry to swallow at first, now seemed to be watering. His long, wet hair... the droplets glinting on his skin... his hard muscles flexing with each subtle movement... It was bewitching. Tokio was under a spell. Her skin seemed to be burning and her insides were in a whirlwind of excitement. Oh, how she longed to reach out and thread her fingers through his mane of glossy black hair and feel those smooth planes of muscle under her fingertips...

She was trembling with anticipation. She _wanted_ him. But she could not – no, she absolutely could not act on these feelings of desire. Of lust. Perhaps it was because she'd never seen a man the way she'd seen Saitō. That could explain the desire building up inside. But maybe there was something more. Maybe she wanted Saitō already. Maybe she found his ability to feel such intense passion attractive, and now seeing him in such a new, appealing way made the feelings of lust stronger.

Tokio wandered back to the fire, biting her lower lip. She was disconcerted by the word _lust_. It was something she pinned on brothel girls and sex addicts. But she herself felt it now for the first time ever. She couldn't just pass it off as a fleeting desire, either, because even now that she was back and Saitō was far away, she was still trembling.

When Saitō returned, she could not look him in the eyes. She avoided his gaze and made no comment about his appearance. As the fish continued to cook, Tokio noticed how dirty she was. She was still covered in blood – she tried not to think of it as Mori's blood – as well as dirt and smears of ash. Saitō had the right idea when he chose to bathe. When the fish were done, she and Saitō each took one and ate in silence. Then, she stood up and walked to the river once again.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I feel gross, so I'm cleaning up," she explained simply.

"Not right now, you're not," he said.

She stopped and glanced back at him. "Why?"

"The sun's setting."

"So?" she demanded.

"It's dangerous at night."

"I can take care of myself," she frowned.

Saitō rolled his eyes. "Right."

As she started to walk away again, she heard him stand up and start to follow her. She spun around and glared at him. "What _now?_"

"I'm making sure you don't drown or something, because with your luck –"

"Wait! You can't watch me bathing!" Tokio was bright red.

He rolled his eyes again, "I'm not going to watch you, idiot. I'm making sure you don't get yourself killed."

She stormed off towards the river, bewildered and angry. Tokio already knew there was no way to win this argument. All she could to was search for some way to make this slightly less embarrassing for herself. Saitō was, when it came right down to it, a guy. And despite appearances and attitude, she was a girl. There was no way to be certain that he wouldn't sneak a peek at her. (After all, how often did Shinsengumi officers spend time around women?)

When they reached the river, she turned to him determinedly. "Close your eyes," she demanded.

He looked like he was about to object, but thought better of it and did as she said. Tokio reached up with some difficulty and loosened his headband, lowered it, and tightened it again over his eyes. He scowled, "What the hell is this for?"

"Making sure you don't look," she snapped. "If that moves while I'm naked, I can guarantee you will never have children."

He muttered under his breath and leaned back against a tree trunk. She ignored him. She took off her kimono when she was out of eye shot, shivering, and hung it across the branch closest to the riverbank. After checking to make sure that Saitō wasn't looking, she ran in.

The water was cold; she stifled a gasp. Even though the sun had been shining on it all day and the smooth river rocks were warm, the flowing water felt like ice. But, she had to get clean somehow, and it wasn't like there was a hot bath available to her. _Suck it up_, she told herself, and waded in slowly. When she was up to her waist, she felt the strong current pushing her. She could stand her ground if she dug her heels into the pebbly bottom, but she remembered that Saitō stood there as if there was no current at all. She had to stop thinking about him, at least for a few minutes. Even though it was freezing cold and every muscle was screaming for her to run back to shore, she held her breath and submerged herself in the water.

When Saitō heard the telltale splash of Tokio going under, he took the headband off. How was he supposed to look out for her if he couldn't see anything? That was sort of a pathetic excuse, though, as his senses were much keener than hers. Still, he'd react that much faster if he could see an animal or person approaching, or if she was swept away by the current. Saitō sighed, wondering if there was any girl more danger-prone than her.

He glanced over to the river where he could just see the ripples indicating that she'd gone under. Just as they started to disappear, she resurfaced. He told himself from the beginning that he had no desire to spy on her, that he should look away. But he couldn't seem to. Seeing her like this was strange. She was a tomboy, and that was how he'd always pictured her. But like this... Like this, she seemed different. Without being caked in blood and dirt, without lines of worry or anger upon her young face, without the barriers of concealing clothing, she looked like a different person altogether.

Every inch of her pale skin shimmered with a thousand drops of water reflecting the golden sunset. Her long brown hair was as disobedient as ever. It clung to her back and still managed to stick up in places. He found himself transfixed by the soft, feminine curves that her kimono so expertly hid before. He never imagined that Tokio would look so soft. Silently he cursed the river for obscuring his view of anything below her waist. As his eyes traveled up her hips, her stomach, over her breasts, over her hair and hands, they settled on her face. Her smooth lips and stubborn jaw and dark eyes... Her dark, mysterious eyes, drawing him in, paralyzing him...

Then, he noticed that she was looking at him. She was looking right at him, and she saw him looking at her.

… _Shit_.

"YOU _PERVERT!_"

A fist-sized rock went flying right at his head. He ducked just in time, but several more followed the first. "What the hell is your problem?!" he snapped from a safe place behind the tree.

"YOU'RE MY PROBLEM!" she shouted, now up to her neck in water with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO LOOK, YOU SLEAZE!"

Saitō called back heatedly, "What, so it's perfectly fine for you to stare at me when _I'm_ bathing, but when I glance over at _you_ it's a crime?"

Tokio opened her mouth to retort, but when she understood what Saitō said, she almost choked on her words. So he knew the whole time that she watched him before? But he didn't say anything or call her out on it until now! "I-I wasn't staring!" she defended herself, "I was looking for you, then I saw you and decided not to disturb you!"

"Oh, please," he replied, "You were ogling me for a good ten minutes."

"I WAS NOT OGLING YOU!"

Oh, god, she just _knew_ he was sporting an infuriating smirk, just as he surely hear the desperation in her voice to deny that she was even more guilty than him. She was so unbelievably embarrassed. And sitting in a river stark-naked was not helping. She quickly got up and made her way towards her kimono on the shore and yelled, "Consider yourself castrated! When I get my hands on--"

But before she could finish, she lost her footing on one of the smooth, slippery rocks. With a yelp, she felt face-first and then everything went black.

When she came to, Tokio felt disoriented. Her head was throbbing uncomfortably. At the very least, she was warm. Her head hurt too much for her to want to think, but she opened her eyes slowly to get a feel for her surroundings.

Above her, she could make out tree trunks and foliage. They were illuminated by what seemed to be a fire an arm's length away from her. She was laying on the ground, but something cushioned her head. She groaned, turning her head to the side, and saw Saitō sitting beside her, snarling.

"Have you ever gotten the feeling that the gods are out to get you, Tokio?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

She tried to muster the strength to move. Her voice sounded hoarse. "No... Why?"

"Because," he muttered, tossing another piece of wood onto the fire, "I've never met someone more disposed to life-threatening situations than you."

Tokio tried to figure out what he could have meant by that. What life threatening situations? Then her foggy memories started to come back. She was in the river, yelling at Saitō for being a pervert, and then she tried to get out so she could at least be decent... but she fell and must have bashed her head off of a rock. She reached up and felt her forehead gingerly. Wincing, her fingers found the tender spot at her hairline where she must have hit it.

A thought struck her. Panicking, she sat up straight and observed herself. She was only wearing her nagajuban and her kimono was draped across her body like a blanket. She blushed furiously. So not only did Saitō see her bathing in the river, he must have seen her naked when he dressed her. She found herself feeling incredibly self-conscious all of a sudden. Every little scar and scab, every frizzy strand of hair, every unladylike proportion felt a million times worse. If she were ever to share these imperfections with a man, it would be someone she truly loved, someone she trusted to accept these flawed pieces of herself. But now Saitō had seen her. He'd seen her exposed; it wasn't enough that her emotions were out in the open for him to see, now he'd seen her physically as no man ever had before.

She laid back down, facing away from him, and hugged her knees to her chest. She blacked out entirely earlier. What if Saitō had done something to her while she was unconscious...? Immediately, she rejected the thought. Saitō was many things, but she absolutely could not see him as the type to take advantage of a woman, especially not after what he'd told her about the hatamoto's son he killed. He wouldn't even think of doing something so dishonorable. _Besides_, she reminded herself bitterly, _I'm not exactly the image of a seductress, am I?_

It was then that she realized he would never try to do her any harm. He protected her, fought for her, and put up with her when she was being unreasonable. He didn't stop trying to help her even after she'd shown him how frightened she was of him. Saitō did so much for her, but he never asked her for anything in return... What did she do to deserve a man like him in her life? How could she possibly repay him?

She tried to fall asleep. Perhaps then, at least, she would be able to escape the whirlwind of emotions in her heart. Tokio wanted to cry for the first time in her life. It wasn't that she needed to or felt as if she were about to. She actually _wished_ she could cry. Then she could try to purge herself of every negative thought and feeling that was intensifying inside...

Just when she thought the tears might actually come, she felt something touch her head. Saitō reached down, threading his fingers in her hair. He dragged them through smoothly from root to tip, repeating the process after his fingertips brushed over her back. Her chest swelled. It was so foreign, so comforting, so gentle... How did he know just the right way to calm her down? She wasn't sure, but it felt so wonderful to feel him so close to her. Sleep came to her more easily than it did in months, because she knew he was there, because she knew he could never, ever hurt her.


	6. First Kill

_A/N_: Yay for updates! Enjoy chapter 6! And virtual cookies to anyone who gets the double-meaning of the smoking scene ;D Once again, Merry Christmas/Happy Friday!

_Warnings_: LOTS of blood and death and violence. Some more slightly risqué bits, I suppose. Sensitive topics.

_Disclaimer__: __Rurouni Kenshin__ © Nobuhiro Watsuki. __Heart of the Wolf__ © KaibaKitty. _

Tokio never thought she could feel so isolated from the rest of the world. Another day passed during which she and Saitō were alone. Between Tokio's bloodstained yukata and Saitō's Shinsengumi garb, the two were too conspicuous to stay on frequently used roads. They had no interaction with anyone but each other for three days. It was strange. Tokio was so used to being surrounded by people. Or, at least, she was used to being around her noisy family who made enough racket for several people, and Saitō was much less verbose than her usual company.

Thinking of her family again made Tokio's heart clench painfully. Everyone was really falling apart. She hadn't acted quickly enough to stop Mori, and now he was in such danger... And Tami... Tami, her harebrained little sister, had been kidnapped. Everything was splitting at the seams. It would not take much more for it to collapse...

It was around midnight when Saitō stopped her and told her they were going to settle down for the night. Tokio nodded without objection. There was no point in continuing tonight. They'd already gone so many miles, and neither were in any shape to keep on their relentless pace. Saitō started the fire to keep animals away while Tokio hugged her knees to her chest and watched him. It started easily for him, and when the fire licked the wood hungrily, he sat back and pulled a box of cigarettes from his pocket. He lit one and took a drag on it. Tokio raised her eyebrows. "I didn't know you smoked."

"I don't," he exhaled. "Much."

For some reason or another, she doubted this.

He saw the look on her face and frowned, "It's just when I need a distraction."

"Something tells me you need an awful lot of distractions in your life," she muttered.

He smirked.

Well, it was his business. She didn't care either way. Despite the fact that she had not eaten all day, she wasn't hungry. In fact Tokio didn't think she could even hold down food at this point. She was worrying more than ever. Tami and Mori. They were so precious to her. They both looked up to her for guidance and protection... And she'd failed them both. Tokio was trying so hard to get to save them before it was too late, but there was a huge possibility that she might lose them, even after all this...

Her discontent did not go unnoticed by Saitō. He glanced over at her and muttered irritably, "Those worry lines are going to become permanent if you don't lighten up."

She shot him a glare and snapped, "How am I supposed to 'lighten up' at a time like this? Who knows what awful things those men have done to Tami, and by now, Mori might be dead and..."

It sounded worse saying these things aloud. It was as if by uttering them, they would become reality. Tokio could now picture it with startling clarity: Tami laying comatose on the floor of some dirty shack with her limbs bound, Mori garbed in white and paraded down the street for his funeral procession... Now she really felt like she was going to be sick.

If she ever needed to clear her mind and settle down, it would be now. She snatched Saitō's cigarette away and took a drag on it as well. When the strong fumes filled her lungs, she fell into a coughing fit. She never imagined it would be that overwhelming! Tokio shoved the cigarette back at him and gagged, "That's _disgusting_."

He laughed at her. He really _laughed._ Tokio heard his occasional sarcastic, sometimes humorless snickers, but never a true laugh. She blushed without knowing why.

Saitō grinned wickedly. "You're pathetic."

"No, _you_ have lungs of steel. How can you stand those things?"

"It's like I said," he mused, "they make one hell of a good distraction."

He had a point. Hacking on cigarette smoke certainly did draw her attention away from things. But now that he'd mentioned it, she remembered why she wanted a distraction in the first place. Depression was settling upon her once again. She wished whatever was causing Saitō's uncharacteristically good mood could rub off on her.

As she glanced over at him again, she noticed that he held cigarette between his lips while he reclined lazily. That thing touched his lips. Then it touched hers. Her lips touched the same place as his. _So... is that like an indirect kiss?_ she wondered. Oh, gods, she hoped not. That would have made for a terrible first kiss, indirect or otherwise! She decided furiously that that would not count as any kiss at all. A kiss would entail their lips actually _touching_. And that would mean that there was some miraculous accident that pushed them together in just the right way, or that at least one of them actually felt compelled to carry out the action. She doubted this happening, and surprised herself by feeling disheartened by that fact.

Tokio looked over at him wondering if he realized their 'indirect kiss' as well. Well, he was a guy; maybe something minor like that wouldn't even cross his mind. Besides, the real thing, a real kiss, must have been much better. She glanced over at Saitō, wondering if he also thought that a real kiss would be much more fulfilling...

The word 'lust' came to mind again when her mouth started watering at the thought of him. She could only imagine how his lips might feel, how he might taste – but she stopped herself quickly. Tokio hated that she wanted him so much without having any idea as to how he might feel about her in return. She also hated that she wanted him in the first place. It just wasn't decent for a girl to _want_ the way she did, at very least for an unmarried girl. Then she found herself thinking fiercely, _I don't care if others consider it 'proper' or not!_

Rather than obsess over Saitō or anyone else for that matter, she decided to try sleeping. But it was cold for a midsummer night. The breeze that rattled the trees chilled her to the bone, and she was freezing in her light yukata. She laid down and curled up beside the fire, but it did her little good. It was barely keeping her face and chest warm. Her back was still exposed and had nothing to warm it.

Tokio threw a glance at Saitō over her shoulder. She pouted, "Aren't you turning into an icicle over there?"

He lifted an eyebrow. "No."

She rolled her eyes and turned back to the fire, as if keeping it within sight would keep her warmer. "Forget what I said earlier. You don't have lungs of steel – you've got a whole body of steel."

Just as she started to think she could not take the cold for the night, Saitō moved. He crept closer and laid down behind her, mimicking her body's position and propped his head up on his palm. She looked over at him again with wide eyes. "What are you--?"

"You're cold, right?" he muttered. "I'm warming you up."

_You certainly are, you sneaky bastard_, she thought to herself, quickly looking away so he wouldn't see her face flush. She was on fire again with her heart pounding and her soul screaming in anticipation, desiring him, to pounce on him and ravage him and –

He scoffed, "Idiot... Move closer."

She wasn't given much of a choice. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her nearer to him while he shifted closer as well. She could feel Saitō matching the contours of his body, his chest against her back, his legs against hers. "Better?" he asked.

Tokio almost gave a jerky little nod of approval, but she noticed something cold, flat, and rigid between her shoulder blades. She turned halfway over and sighed, "Not really, no. What is this thing?"

There was a small sheathed blade tucked carefully in the folds of his kimono. She pulled it out to inspect it. "Is this a dagger?"

"It's a tanto," he told her.

"Tanto," she repeated slowly. She unsheathed it and inspected the pristine, menacingly sharp blade. "It's a beautiful weapon. It's never been used, has it?"

He gave a derisive bark of laughter at that. "No, thankfully. It's to be used only once during its owner's existence."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "What for?"

"Seppuku – ritual suicide."

Tokio's face paled as she stared at the blade in her now shaking hands. It felt like a malignant thing now rather than a mysterious one. She demanded, "Why the hell are you carrying this around, then?"

He half-shrugged. "It's part of my job. If you disobey the regulations of the Shinsengumi or if you're captured by the enemy with no way to escape, you must commit seppuku."

She swallowed with difficulty. "How... do you commit seppuku?"

"First," he said, taking the blade from her. He unsheathed it completely, and pressed the edge against her abdomen. "You disembowel yourself." He pressed the flat of the blade against her neck and explained softly, "Then, if you're lucky enough to have someone else around, they slit your throat."

Tokio shuddered at the thought as Saitō took the tanto and sheath back. "That sounds horrible," she whispered. He did not comment. She turned to look at him and quickly spluttered, "You- You better not get captured by the Choshu, alright? And follow the Shinsengumi's rules to the letter. I don't want you to ever use that stupid tanto."

She wondered suddenly – why was he looking at her like that? Did her impassioned words give her away? Could he possibly tell how she felt about him? He demanded suddenly, "Don't move."

She froze. He reached towards her, towards her face – no, her hair. For a moment, she thought he was going to stroke her hair the way he did the night before, but he suddenly pulled his hand away. He opened his palm. Something flickered and glowed. It was a firefly. It appeared that the little bug had gotten caught in her mane of hair. It rose up from his palm and flew away.

Tokio watched it until she could no longer see it and mused, "Fireflies look so pretty from a distance, but up close, they're gross and ugly."

Saitō replied, "Most things in life are like that."

Tokio glanced up at him. The pessimistic man would say something like that. He was right; plenty of things looked grand from far away. But when you have them, when they are within your grasp, you then realize how detestable those things truly are.

She gazed up at him, her eyes traveling over his sharp features. His high cheekbones and hollowed cheeks, his amber eyes glinting orange and gold in the firelight, and his lips which she so longed to devour...

"Not all things," she murmured.

Was it just her imagination... or was he even closer...? She reached over, her cool hand gracing over his warm chest... His grip on her waist tightened, almost crushing her against him. He was definitely leaning closer to her, and her heart raced with excitement. She leaned closer, too, closing her eyes, waiting for that moment to come--

"Did you hear that?"

She stared at him in disbelief. He got distracted at the _last_ possible second. Saitō was already sitting up without a trace of that passion he had just a moment ago. Tokio could have punched him in her fury. "No," she snapped irritably. She sat up, too.

"That noise--"

"You're imagining things," she huffed. Determined to recapture the moment, she took his cheeks in her hands firmly and came within an inch of his lips – and then he clapped a hand over her mouth.

Enraged, indignant, and hurt, she wondered wildly if he had come to his senses and decided that kissing her was a bad idea and he'd concocted the 'noise' to deter her. Just as her mind filled with myriad curses and derogatory names she was planning to screech the instant he let her go, she heard something. A clacking sound, a steady rhythm... It seemed distant, but there was a hum of a shouting voice on the wind. Tokio recognized the clacking rhythm as the sound of horse hooves.

Saitō stood up fluidly, smothered the fire, and pulled her to her feet. He took off with her in the direction of the sound. They were nearing the road when he stopped, crouching in the brush so he was out of sight. Tokio made herself as small as she could so she would be hidden by the bushes. Through gaps in the leaves, she watched anxiously. Even from far away, it was easy enough to tell that there was more than one or two people. They could have been soldiers from the Imperial army; in that case, Saitō would not have to worry, though it may have been rather awkward to explain why he was alone in the woods with a sixteen year old girl. But they might have been Choshu warriors. Or they might have been travelers. Or they might have been the very people Saitō and Tokio were looking for...

There was a line of at least twenty people and three men on horseback. The people on foot had their hands in shackles and and were roped together by their wrists and their necks. Most of them were women and children, though there were four teenage boys as well. Tokio began to shake violently. There was no doubt in her mind that they were more slavers.

Suddenly, one of the young boys stumbled and fell to the ground. The force pulled down six other people, all shouting and scrambling to stand up again. But the boy did not rise. He remained on the ground, supine, crying.

One of the slavers growled in frustration and called for the procession to halt. He jumped off of his horse and looked at the boy on the ground. The man spat on him and snapped, "Who picked up _this_ weakling?"

One of the other men muttered back to him about 'slim pickings,' to which the first man grunted. "A runt is still a runt. If this is all it takes to wear it out, it's useless."

Without warning, the slaver pushed his sword into the back of the boy's skull. The crying stopped in an instant.

"And to the rest of you scum," he shouted to the slaves, "You can drag the corpse back to Shiga!"

Tokio tore her eyes from the boy's limp body, feeling the urge to be violently sick. He was just an innocent boy... All he did was trip and fall. He was too weak after walking who knows how many miles, and he was probably exhausted and weak... He didn't deserve to die like that. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair.

She was heaving again, dry sobbing, choking on the air passing through her lungs. But she was so loud, and they were so close to the road – they were sure to be heard. Saitō covered her mouth again tightly, holding her close, hissing in her ear to calm down. She tried to listen to him, to take even, steady breaths – but she couldn't. It was too much. That boy whom she didn't even know pushed her over the edge. She couldn't take it.

Saitō pulled her to his chest, his words drowned by her senseless dry sobs. He uncovered her mouth and she thought she heard him say, "They're gone" but she couldn't be sure. All she could do was wrap her arms around him, squeeze him tight, and murmur breathlessly, "It's not fair..."

"Tokio," he said, untangling her arms from him, "stay here."

She looked up at him in shock. "What..? No!"

He glared at her. "Their headquarters is close by. It's too dangerous for you to go."

"That's why you're here, isn't it?" she retorted.

"I'm here to kill the slavers and rescue Tami. I can't babysit you when we get there," he snapped."

"Then don't! I can take care of myself!"

"Yes, you've done that quite spectacularly in the last few months," he snarled venomously.

Tokio ignored the cruel sarcasm. Just as she got to her feet, Saitō beat her to the punch and snarled once again, "_Stay here_."

He took off in the same direction as the slavers and their prisoners. Tokio stared in disbelief as he vanished before her eyes. "No... _No!_" She shouted. She would _not_ be left alone again. She ran, but the strap on one of her zori sandals broke. With a furious cry, she yanked it and the other one off, tossing them aside, and let her tabi socks accompany them. She ran barefoot after Saitō, blood pumping hard and fast through her veins. She had to catch up with him, reach the village, save Tami, avenge her and the other captives –

When she ran far enough, she suddenly noticed that Saitō had stopped, scowling. "What are you waiting for?" she implored him.

Wordlessly, he walked up to her, grabbed her hand, and thrust his wakizashi into her palm. She stared at him, unable to fathom why he would do that... He needed his wakizashi; what if he lost his katana in the middle of the fight? He'd be a sitting duck. It occurred to her that she'd forgotten her dagger at the Saba Ryokan in all the commotion. Now she had a weapon, albeit one she could barely use.

Saitō hoisted her up and ran off. Tokio clung to him with one arm and clutched the wakizashi with her free hand. Why would he give this to her? As he ran, she wondered... What if Saitō was doubting himself? What if he didn't think he could survive the fight? Then maybe he gave her the short sword as a way to defend herself. It was haunting to think that there might come a time when he would not be there beside her. He was her guardian. He was the focus of her desire. He was... He was... She could not finish the thought with words.

The abandoned village of Shiga was worse than Tokio ever imagined. The newest slaves were tied or chained to the beams of houses. There was a small, decrepit barn which she and Saitō watched at least ten captives file into. The slavers were strutting around with swords; some also carried whips, many carried guns. A group of girls, the oldest about fourteen and the youngest no more than five, were clean and wore decent clothes, but each of them looked dead. Their expressions were vacant and their skin grayish. Each of them were being checked for lice and the condition of her teeth. Tokio realized with a flare of disgust that they were taken as child prostitutes. Among the girls in the group was a slight, familiar figure...

It was all she could do to keep from crying out. _It was Tami_. Tami looked as empty and gray as each of the other girls and seemed to blend in with them. It was so unlike the little girl that Tokio almost didn't believe it was her. But Saitō saw her, too, and when he saw the condition Tokio's sister was in, he abandoned any thought of subtlety. He put Tokio on the ground, breathing, "Stay close."

She had no desire to disobey. He walked into the filthy village with Tokio by his side. At first, no one seemed to notice them. But then, two of the passing men caught sight of the pair. One hollered, "Who the hell are--?!"

He never got to finish his question; Saitō's katana buried itself in the man's throat. The second scrambled to retrieve his gun, but with a deft motion, Saitō slashed the man's arm off. He barely started to scream in agony before the wolf stabbed him in the chest.

The commotion caught the attention of the others. The two slavers checking the girls' hair and teeth stopped, and raised the alarm to the rest. By the time Saitō approached them, many others arrived. Tokio would never understand how Saitō's mind worked so quickly. He picked the gunman out of the group in a split second, and silenced them first. One, two, four, eight, eleven men fell within seconds. She gulped, watching the crimson overtaking the blue, white, and gray of his clothes.

Saitō engaged himself in a fight with three swordsmen at once. He snarled, "_Tokio!_ Get Tami!"

She jolted. Tami! Without wasting another moment, she bolted over to the stagnant group who did not even feel the motivation to get somewhere safe, or to try escaping. Tokio grabbed her sister by the shoulders and shook her. "Tami, come on!"

But the little girl was emotionless. She looked up at Tokio without recognition. Tokio tugged on her hand and insisted, "Come on, you need to go somewhere safe!"

Still, Tami did not respond. She let her hand slide out of her sister's and simply stood there, lifeless. Tokio reached out to pick her up and carry her, but there was a sharp pain from her scalp. She yelped as she was dragged away by her hair. Before she knew what was happening, a sword pressed to her throat.

"A lone wolf of Mibu and some little girl aren't getting out of here alive," a greasy man sneered in her face, "unless the snappy little girl wants to become one of our whores."

She struggled with all her might, but the man's hold on her was too strong. Then, she remembered – _the wakizashi_. Without thinking twice, she pulled the blade out, and plunged it into the slaver's thigh. He howled and his grip slackened. She stumbled backwards, but stared in horror as the man fell to the ground, writhing. Blood spurted from his leg, and Tokio knew that she'd severed his femoral artery. He was bleeding out. He stared up at her in disbelief, squeezing his thigh as if that would stop the flow. "You.. bitch..." he rasped.

She was horrified. The man was dead. She just _killed_ him. He was a slaver, a filthy being who participated in the kidnapping of her sister and threatened to kill Tokio unless she became another one of their slaves. He was one of many others that hurt Tami and the other captives, he ruined their lives and had no problem ruining more. He deserved no mercy. He deserved to be punished. But Tokio never imagined herself as the punisher. The one to cast final judgment should have been someone like Saitō, not a frightened teenage girl.

Tokio looked down at her hands. She dropped the wakizashi. Now her hands were covered in the blood of the man she'd killed.

Things were very quiet all of a sudden. Saitō came over to her quietly. He glanced from the man on the ground to the wakizashi to the scarlet fluid dripping from the girl's hands; Saitō knew what must have happened.

"Tokio?" he asked.

She looked up at him slowly, feeling as hollow as the rest of the girls around her. "Saitō..." she whispered, "I... I..."

He was a sad excuse for a man, but he was still human, just like her. And she'd taken his life.

Saitō took her bloodstained hands in his, rubbing the fluid from her skin with the sleeve of his haori. "He was going to kill you. You did what you had to do."

Her palms were still sticky, but she clenched her fists tightly and murmured, "I know... but... I didn't... have to... to kill him..."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "If you didn't, I would have. Either way, he'd be dead right now. The only difference would be that I'd have made sure he suffered for putting his hands on you."

Tokio was not given enough time to come to terms with what she'd done, let alone decide if it was wrong or right; there was a quiet voice behind her.

"Nee...san..."

Tokio turned around, startled. Tami swayed, her eyes half-closed. Tokio caught the girl just as she started to fall. "Tami?" she asked, her voice shaking. "Tami... wake up..."

She instinctively found her sister's pulse. It was faint, but it was there. Her breathing was shallow. Tokio picked her up, cradling the girl in her arms, so thankful that she was still alive, but devastated at the price she paid to get Tami back – and the condition Tami was currently in.

While Tokio tried to concentrate on her relief that her sister was alive, Saitō took care of freeing the captured women, children, and young men. Dozens of them came from the barn, from dilapidated houses, from sheds and under decks. Most seemed shaken and confused by the turn of events, and only a few rejoiced openly at their freedom. Some, like the girls in Tami's group, did not even react to being freed.

Saitō joined Tokio once again. She asked softly, "What are they going to do now?"

"I don't know," he said. "Come on. It's about time you got back to Wakasa."

Tami did not say another word for the rest of the night. She slept soundlessly. Tokio carried her most of the time. Only when she was too sore and tired to support Tami's weight did she allow Saitō to take the girl off of her hands.

When at last they were both too tired to carry on, Saitō led her off the road to settle down once again. Tokio looked around, and said tonelessly, "This place is familiar."

"We're by same river as we were the other night," he informed her.

The river... Tokio did not have to walk far to find it. She nestled Tami between the twisted roots of a tree and walked to the river bank. She knelt on the tiny rocks and dipped her hands into the cold water. She rubbed them together, scraped them vigorously against the coarse sand. She wanted to rid herself of the man's blood forever, but she knew she never could. She rubbed at them harder until they were raw and red.

Saitō finally stopped her. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands out of the water. "They're clean," he said softly.

They may have been clean but Tokio never felt more disgusting before in her entire life. She stood quickly and turned to walk away. But Saitō stopped her. He slipped his arms around her waist from behind, pressing himself against her back. Feeling him close and warm was what she needed so desperately. She was in more emotional turmoil than ever, and nothing could compare to the comfort of knowing that Saitō would not condemn her for her actions. Nothing could compare to the feeling of his strong arms embracing her so tightly.

That night, she curled up with Tami, stroking her sister's hair gently. Once Saitō cleaned up, he laid down on Tami's other side, reaching across the girl to hold Tokio. Sleep came with difficulty, but when she awoke, she felt rested. She bathed in the river without incident, and when she returned to Saitō, he was awake and prepared to go. She carried the still slumbering Tami through most of the day once again. When night began to fall again, Tokio was already yawning.

Saitō started to mention taking a break, but he cut himself off suddenly. His eyes gleamed dangerously, and he turned sharply to the right.

From the shadows came two figures. One was familiar. Tokio gasped in surprise, "Okita-kun?"

"Susumu-san," Saitō muttered, acknowledging the man Tokio did not know.

"Saitō-san!" Okita exclaimed brightly, "Tokio-san! We've found you!"

Tokio's brow furrowed. The Shinsengumi were looking for them? At least, they must have been looking for Saitō. Susumu spoke in a quiet, silky voice. "Hijikata-kun sent us after you."

Okita pouted, "Some have been calling you a deserter – but I said I knew Saitō-san better than anyone, and you're not the type to run away."

This news did not seem to surprise Saitō in the least, but he looked wary. Susumu said colorlessly, "Hijikata-kun is... most displeased with your disappearing act."

Tokio felt as if there was something more to Susumu's statement, something unsaid but understood by the three officers. She looked to Saitō to explain, but he did not. He said, "One of you needs to escort the girl and her sister to Wakasa."

Okita sighed, "Sorry, but we can't. Orders from the top, we're to take you back to headquarters immediately."

Saitō looked down at Tokio and said gravely, "You're going to have to make it back yourself, then. Stay in the next town for the--"

"No," Susumu cut him off, "Okita-san means we're supposed to take the _both_ of you back to headquarters."

Tokio was taken aback. What did the commanders of the Shinsengumi want with her...? Saitō's only expressions of outward emotion were his tightly clenched fists. She knew he was dying to object – but why? What could the Shinsengumi commanders have in store that was worse than all of the other things Saitō and Tokio witnessed together?


End file.
